What a waste of public’s money!

OUTRAGED taxpayers have branded North Wales Police a “disgrace” after they paid a £44,500 bill on a phone which officers had given a burglar.

Our sister paper, the Daily Post, exposed a blunder that saw the offender mistakenly given a mobile with a contract SIM instead of pay-asyou-go for officers to keep tabs on him while on bail.

Before the burglar from Llangefni was jailed, he gave the device to two associates, who made calls costing around £250 a day over six months.

The error came to light after a criminal investigation was launched and the two friends were arrested. However, because no contract had been signed detailing the conditions of the phone’s use, they had to be released without charge.

A review into the force’s mobile policy has since been held and changes have been made.

The story attracted dozens of comments from disgruntled readers after it was unearthed through a Freedom of Information request put to North Wales Police by the Daily Post.

One reader said: “What a disgrace. Maintaining contact with the burglar? What a waste of taxpayers’ money.

“That would have paid for two new police officers for a year. The manage- ment of the force needs to be looked at.”

Another said: “That no-one has been disciplined or sacked says it all about this force.

“And don’t forget to pay your council tax bills on time, with, of course, the ever increasing NWP precept added in.”

Others took to social media to express their shock, with one writing: “And they say crime does not pay.”

Another wrote: “How do you rack up a bill like that, phoning Australia every five minutes? Apart from the daft idea in the first place, is any enquiry being conducted as to why the charge is so high?”

Another said: “They can pay my phone bill if they want and give me some of my taxes back instead of giving it to those who steal from hardworking people.”

One man simply said: “You really couldn’t make it up.”

Winston Roddick, the then North Wales Police and Crime Commissioner, was briefed on the phone blunder, which happened in 2014, and it was discussed by an audit committee.

Arfon Jones, the current commissioner who was elected last May, said: “Clearly, allowing this to happen was a costly error.

“I have been reassured by the force that, since 2014 when this occurred, the management of mobile phones has been tightened up to ensure that nothing like this can happen again.”

John O’Connell, chief executive of the Taxpayers’ Alliance, said: “This is a huge error by the police force and taxpayers will want answers as to how this mistake went unnoticed for so long. Most will find it pretty staggering that ex-offenders are given mobile phones at all, so it is absolutely vital that forces make sure costs are kept down.

“When money is wasted like this it means less can go into frontline policing.”