Only three per cent of burglars were prosecuted in Greater Manchester last year, new figures reveal

Analysis of Home Office statistics by our sister title NationalWorld found that of just over 18,000 burglaries investigated by the force in 2021-22, almost 14,000 probes were closed without a suspect being identified.

It comes as police forces are attempting to rebuild public confidence that crimes are being investigated, with the new commissioner of the Met Police in London recently announcing that officers will attend every burglary report.

The data shows that in 2021-22 GMP closed 18,221 investigations into burglaries from domestic properties.

Of those, just 3.6 per cent ended with a suspect being charged or summonsed to court or an offender asking for the break-in to be taken into consideration when they appeared in the dock.

There were 650 charges or summonses, while two cases were taken into consideration.

However, a massive 13,858 investigations were closed with no suspect being identified.

There were 1,270 cases where there were problems with the evidence, even though a suspect had been framed and the victim supported police action.

But 2,338 cases did run into evidence difficulties and a lack of support for the case going further from the victim.

There were 35 cases where further investigation was deemed not to be in the public interest, 16 which were formally settled out of court and 22 which were informally settled without the courts becoming involved.

There were 28 cases where prosecution was prevented or not thought to be in the public interest, and one where the responsibility for further investigation was transferred to another body.

In one case, an educational approach or intervention activity was deemed the best way of dealing with a burglary.

The rate of 3.6 per cent of burglary probes ending with someone being charged or in the dock in court puts GMP below the England and Wales average of five per cent.

Hampshire had the lowest charge rate, at 2.6 per cent, four times lower than in Devon and Cornwall where it was 10.5 per cent.

GMP said police officers had been dispatched to the scene of every burglary, as long as the victim agreed, since July 2021 as part of Operation Castle.

It insisted the new policy was paying dividends, saying burglary arrests have increased by more than 70 per cent.

The force also said that under Operation Castle the best-performing district has arrested 200 suspects and secured 300 charges.

In August the police watchdog ordered forces to improve their response to burglaries, thefts and robberies.

Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary Andy Cooke said: “Burglary, robbery and theft are not minor crimes. They are crimes that strike at the heart of how safe people feel in their own homes or communities.

“The current low charge rates for these crimes are unacceptable and unsustainable – there needs to be a concerted drive to address this issue because it directly affects the public’s confidence in the police’s ability to keep them safe.”

Mr Cooke said there was a “postcode lottery”, with some victims more likely than others to get a thorough investigation.