Judge rips police a new one after they failed to return stolen phone over thief’s GDPR rights
A judge has lashed out at police for refusing to give a phone thief victim his mobile back.
They told Melvyn Mainwaring that it wouldn’t be returned in case it infringed on the privacy rights of thief Daniel Reid, 33.
His Samsung, credit cards and bus pass were taken when Reid broke into his home in Abergele, north Wales, on May 18 last year.
He managed to cancel his cards but still had to pay his £18-a-month contract while Reid was able to use it.
Reid admitted to burglary at Caernarfon Crown Court, where judge Nicola Jones reserved some of her anger for police who, until yesterday, still had Melvyn’s phone.
He told the judge that the loss of his phone had been a ‘massive inconvenience’ and that it contained irreplaceable photos.
She asked prosecutor Tom McGloughlin if he was having difficulty getting the phone back because of GDPR. He replied: ‘It would not surprise me.’
Judge Jones pointed out that Reid had given no consideration to Melvyn’s GDPR rights when he broke into his home.
She said: ‘It’s ridiculous it will not be [returned]. It just seems nonsensical.
‘I do direct that North Wales Police return that telephone to Mr Mainwaring.
Reid was jailed for nearly four years after admitting two other burglaries he carried out last spring.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper will chair a summit on smartphone theft after the Metropolitan Police seized more than 1,000 stolen devices in one week.
The force targeted those involved in stealing, handling and supplying stolen phones in a week of ‘co-ordinated activity’ across London.
It said 230 people had been arrested in the clampdown on the ‘£50 million-a-year trade in stolen phones’.
Speaking ahead of the summit on Thursday, Ms Cooper told LBC it was ‘totally unacceptable’ for people to feel unsafe on the streets over their phones and that she was looking at stronger powers for police to tackle the thefts.
‘It’s about hot spot policing and targeting and being ready to take swift action. It’s about speeding up the warrants,’ she said.
‘That’s one of the things we will be discussing at the summit today, is what more powers they (police) might need, what more action might be taken, because we’ve got to make sure that this really damaging organised crime can be tackled.’
She also said a strong partnership between police and tech companies was needed to do it.
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