Police reveal the crimes committed in festive period

SETTING Christmas trees on fire, stealing polar bear-themed lights, and telling people to have a ‘miserable Christmas’ are just some of the festivethemed crimes that took place last year.

Exclusive figures obtained by the M.E.N. reveal that 219 ‘Christmas crimes’ were recorded by Greater Manchester Police in 2017.

Thefts made up the majority of crimes, with 15 marked as ‘shoplifting’. They included one occasion where a person stole £40 worth of chocolates from a shop.

Other theft offences included presents stolen from cars, wallets pickpocketed at the Christmas markets, polar bear lights taken from a garden, as well as the theft of a Christmasthemed projector.

More serious offences recorded by Greater Manchester police include stalking and harassment.

In one case, the offender told a victim to be careful and that he was going to post a Christmas card through the letterbox.

In another, the victim received an unwanted Christmas card and necklace in the post that she said left her feeling ‘frightened.’

The data comes from a Freedom of Information request asking police to provide details of any crimes that took place where the word ‘Christmas’ was included in the offence description.

There were 23 public order offences recorded by officers. One report includes the victim being told: “You will have to eat your Christmas dinner through a straw.”

In another, the offender stood outside the victim’s house shouting: “Have a miserable Christmas.”

Criminal damage and arson offences were recorded 19 times last December. This included a male offender breaking a Christmas tree in half.

On a separate occasion, an unknown offender poured a substance over three crates of Christmas trees and ignited them.

There were also 70 ‘violent offences’ including bust-ups at Christmas dos, and one instance where a person stole chocolate off the Christmas tree and hid it in bed. When he was confronted he became abusive towards the victim.