Police release CCTV of man and woman after bag containing £15,000 diamond rings go missing

On Aug 18, 2022

Police have released CCTV footage of a man and a woman after a bag containing £15,000 of diamond rings was swiped from a jewellers.

The suspects, who appear to be in their 20s and 30s, secretively stole a bag of rings at a jewellery shop in Bournemouth, Dorset at 2.15pm on July 26.

Both of them tried on some rings and snuck out with a small fortune from Samuel James Jewellers without the shop worker even knowing.

The male suspect was wearing ripped jeans and a black jacket while the woman was dressed in a black coat and lighter coloured jeans.

Both of them were wearing satchel-like bags in the photo.

The two suspects (pictured above) were caught on CCTV walking out of Samuel James Jewellers in Bournemouth, Dorset, with two satchel-like bags

Police Constable Heidi Nielsen, of Bournemouth police, said: ‘Since the incident was reported, I have made a number of enquiries and am now in a position to release an image of two people I would like to identify.

‘I am appealing for anyone who recognises them to please come forward.’

It comes after a damning report found how the vast majority of burglary victims – as well as those targeting by thieves and robbers – are being let down by the police.

Officers are ‘missing opportunities’ to catch suspects from the moment crimes are reported, the report concludes.

Although recorded crime hit a 20-year high in 2022 but the charge rate has plummeted to a new low.

Fewer than 5.6 per cent of offences resulted in a charge and/or summons outcome this year compared to 7.1 per cent in 2021.

The low charging rates are ‘unacceptable and unsustainable’, according to a devastating audit by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary.

Its bombshell review comes amid increasing concern that police are putting too much focus on ‘woke’ issues and not enough on crimes that shatter people’s lives.

The written account found success rates for securing charges on burglaries, thefts and robberies varied wildly from force to force, creating an unacceptable ‘postcode lottery’ for victims.

Some forces can take six months to return fingerprint identifications, which can rule out prosecutions in magistrates’ courts due to statutory time limits – rendering an entire investigation useless.

Inspectors found that in 71 per cent of burglary reports, call handlers failed to give victims any advice on crime scene preservation – meaning vital forensic evidence could be lost.

However although levels of robbery were up 15 per cent year on year they remain below pre-pandemic levels.

Violent crime in London soars

Violent crime has soared to its highest level in a decade after a surge in drug feuds, domestic abuse and hate crime, statistics show.

Drug rivalries became increasingly violent in the first phase of the coronavirus pandemic as gangs fought to retain their turf.

Recent figures also showed that the number of murders in the UK has soared by 14% while the number of knife crimes and robberies also rises.

London is at the centre of fears of rising levels of violence, after the number of killings in the capital topped 100 this summer.

But statistics released today show the number of homicides nationwide is up from 630 to 719, with overall recorded crime up by almost 10%.

The number of offences registered as involving a knife or sharp instrument, 39,332, was the highest since 2011, when comparable records started.

The data published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed jumps in the numbers of recorded robberies (up 22%), sexual offences (up 18%), vehicle-related theft (up 7%) and burglaries (2%).