Why do we make it so easy for burglars?

TO anyone familiar with Britain’s criminal justice system, it will come as little surprise that burglaries almost doubled in some areas last year, with organised gangs believed to be partly responsible.

Hardly a bobby on the beat, with offences against property left uninvestigated… slap- on-the-wrist sentences for the few offenders who are caught…

no wonder sophisticated gangs are seizing their opportunity to prey on the unwary, with many said to be exploiting the internet to identify promising targets in well-to-do areas.

in a disturbing twist, the officer in charge of Scotland Yard’s response to burglary says some of the gangsters come from Eastern Europe and South America, sharing rooms with ten or 15 others as they move from one area to the next.

Again, we make it easy for them. not only do we open our borders to convicts from abroad, but even those foreign criminals who are jailed can look forward to melting into the community on their release.

indeed, it emerged yesterday that 500 have disappeared from the Home Office radar in just two years after lodging appeals against extradition. Others, such as romanian gangster Adrian Preda – convicted in his homeland of attempted murder and blackmail – have been granted legal aid to claim their ‘right’ to stay.

How much longer can our country offer a haven to criminals, from at home and abroad, before ministers and police launch a concerted crackdown – and let householders sleep easily in their beds?