Sentences handed to thieves has risen since last year across Thames Valley Police area

The number of thieves sentenced in Thames Valley has risen, new figures show.

Ministry of Justice figures show 1,039 people were sentenced for committing a theft offence in the Thames Valley Police area in 2022 – up from 1,011 in 2021.

The rise reflects a national picture. Across England and Wales, just over 36,900 sentences for theft – which includes shoplifting, blackmail, burglary and stealing a vehicle or bicycle – were dished out in 2022- up from 3,000 the year before.

It is the first time the number has increased since 2011, with concerns raised about the number of investigations launched and completed into low-level crime.

The Police Federation of England and Wales (PFEW) said the increase is ‘to be expected given the recent pivot towards prioritising theft and burglaries’.

But the rise is well below previous years, with the number of sentences steadily declining. A decade ago, there were 126,359, of which 4,292 were in Thames Valley.

The PFEW has called for ‘significant improvements’ to be made to the criminal justice system.

A spokesperson said: "The Government must properly recognise and support police officers who are exhausted, overworked, underpaid and struggling to deliver the service they want to give because of the increasing demands of the job, as part of the solution to improve rates.

"Ultimately, it is easy to take quick wins from individual figures but often this does not tell the whole story and it is imperative that we consider new data in a collective way to be able to draw out the right solutions to improve the criminal justice system as a whole."

Meanwhile, separate figures show theft offences in Thames Valley had also risen by around 8,000 compared to 2021.

However, it is around 20,000 less than a decade ago.

It is better news for prosecutions and convictions which, like sentences, rose for the first time last year since 2011, by around 5,600.

A Crown Prosecution Service spokesperson said: "Theft can have a serious impact on victims, and we are determined to bring perpetrators to justice whenever our legal test is met.

"We can only prosecute cases that are referred to us following an investigation and will continue to work closely with police to bring offenders to justice."