More than a million thefts and burglaries go unsolved as just 4% lead to a charge

More than a million reported theft offences, including muggings and burglaries, did not result in a charge last year, according to new data released by the Home Office.

In the year to September 2022 just 4.1% of theft offences led to a charge and in 73.4% of cases, no suspect was ever identified.

The tiny charge rate has led to campaigners saying thefts and muggings, alongside other minor crimes, are effectively being decriminalised.

Last year, Labour was critical of the police's failure on thefts, saying its own analysis revealed on average a domestic burglary costs victims £1,400.

Last month shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper called their findings "disgraceful."

Police chiefs in England and Wales promised last year forces will attend all residential thefts in a new set of standards they hope will result in more crimes being solved and more criminals prosecuted.

Last year Dame Vera Baird quit as victims’ commissioner of the government's failure on prosecuting rape, thefts and burglary.

She said the criminal justice system was in "chaos."

She accused the government of "downgrading" victims' interests as "little has been done to effectively tackle the enormous and catastrophic backlog of cases, particularly in the Crown Court where the most serious crimes are tried".

Read more: Drug addict dug up couple's grave looking for money to fund habit

The figures, published by the Home Office on Thursday, also show the overall number of crimes recorded by England and Wales police forces exceeded pre-pandemic levels to reach 6.6 million in the 12 months to September.

This was 10% higher than the year to March 2020 when 6.1 million offences were recorded.

The number of offences police flagged as domestic abuse-related rose by 14% from 798,607 in the year to March 2020 to 910,980 in the same period last year.

There were rises in the number of homicides and robberies, as well as crimes involving knives and firearms recorded by police in the last year since restrictions on movement ended.

But all remain below levels seen before the pandemic.