§ Mr. DobsonTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many and what percentage of street robberies in the Metropolitan police area were robberies of mobile phones in(a) each of the last four calendar years for which figures are available and (b) the period since the end of the last calendar year for which figures are available. [145345]
§ Mr. Charles Clarke[holding answer 15 January 2001]: The information requested has been provided by the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis and is shown in the table.
Offences of street crime where telephone equipment was stolen Year Total Percentage of all robberies 1997 3,484 11 1998 4,538 15 1999 8,805 23 2000 19,302 39 It is thought that most of the offences given above relate to mobile telephones. No figures are yet available for 2001. From 1 January this year, figures will be available specifically for mobile telephones, as opposed to telephone equipment.