More than 20 Bedford street robbers caught

11 November 2010, 10:57 | Updated: 11 November 2010, 11:08

Bedfordshire Police are warning thieves to beware after over the arrest of over 20 street robbers Bedford over the past few weeks as part of a crack down on street crime.

As the nights draw in and the evenings get darker Police are stepping up their investigation of street robberies to get those responsible off the streets. Detectives at Greyfriars Police Station have been gather intelligence and working on information from the public to tackle those who prey on the public.

Some of the robberies people have been arrested for include recently – for example a robbery on Tavistock Street on Monday 11 October.

Detective Sergeant Howard Travis, one of the detectives spearheading the action on street crime, said: “We have had great success during the past few weeks in catching street robbers. They prey on the elderly by stealing their jewellery and prey on the young by stealing their phones.  They knock people to the ground not thinking of the consequences and cause a create deal of harm and misery. 

“We have caught over twenty have so far and we are pulling together further intelligence to catch more. When we do these offenders can expect to get long prison sentences.”

Detective Sergeant Rowland Wallbank, also investigating, added: “We want the public to help us gather information on street robbers. These people need to be taken off the streets and you can help do this by calling us directly or by calling Crimestoppers anonymously with information. As an added bonus if you call Crimestoppers you can get a cash reward for your information.”

Crimestoppers pay their rewards anonymously and can pay up to £1,000 if the information given leads to the arrest and charging of one or more people.  Crimestoppers do not trace or record calls and callers do not have to go to court. When you call you are given a code when they pass on their information and can then call back, using only this code later to see if their information has lead to arrests. This way they don’t need to give their name or other details but can still check on the effect of their information.

If you have information on street robbers in Bedford call Bedfordshire police on 01234 841212 or call Crimestoppers on 0800 555111 or complete their online form anonymously by visiting www.crimestoppers-uk.org