Thieves snatched his phone in London - it was in China a month later

Early connected a Saturday greeting successful April, Akara Etteh was checking his telephone arsenic helium came retired of Holborn conduit station, successful cardinal London.

A infinitesimal later, it was successful the manus of a thief connected the backmost of an electrical motorcycle - Akara gave chase, but they got away.

He is conscionable 1 unfortunate of an estimated 78,000 "snatch thefts" successful England and Wales successful the twelvemonth to March, a large summation connected the erstwhile 12 months.

The prosecution complaint for this offence is precise debased - the constabulary accidental they are targeting the criminals liable but cannot "arrest their mode retired of the problem". They besides accidental manufacturers and tech firms person a bigger relation to play.

Victims of the transgression person been telling the BBC of the interaction it has had connected them - ranging from losing irreplaceable photos to having tens of thousands of pounds stolen.

And for Akara, similar galore different radical who person their telephone taken, determination was different frustration: helium was capable to way wherever his instrumentality went, but was powerless to get it back.

He enactment his iPhone 13 into mislaid mode erstwhile helium got location an hr oregon truthful aboriginal - meaning the thieves couldn't entree its contents - and turned connected the Find My iPhone diagnostic utilizing his laptop.

This allowed Akara to way his phone's unsmooth determination and astir instantly helium received a notification to accidental it was successful Islington. Eight days later, the telephone was pinging successful antithetic locations astir northbound London again.

In a determination says helium "wouldn't recommend" with hindsight, helium went to 2 of the locations his telephone had been successful to "look around".

"It was beauteous risky," helium said. "I was fuelled by adrenaline and anger."

He didn't talk to anyone, but helium felt helium was being watched and went home.

"I americium truly angry," helium said. "The telephone is expensive. We enactment hard to gain that money, to beryllium capable to bargain the handset, and idiosyncratic other says 'screw that'."

Then, successful May, conscionable implicit a period aft the theft, Akara checked Find My iPhone again - his prized possession was present connected the different broadside of the satellite - successful Shenzhen, China.

Akara gave up.

It is not uncommon for stolen phones to extremity up successful Shenzhen - wherever if devices can't beryllium unlocked and utilized again, they are disassembled for parts.

The metropolis is location to 17.6 cardinal radical and is simply a large tech hub, sometimes referred to arsenic China's Silicon Valley.

In the moments aft Akara’s telephone was stolen, helium saw constabulary officers connected the thoroughfare and helium told them what had happened. Officers, helium said, were alert of thieves doing a “loop of the area” to bargain phones, and helium was encouraged to study the offence online, which helium did.

A fewer days later, helium was told by the Metropolitan Police via email the lawsuit was closed arsenic “it is improbable that we volition beryllium capable to place those responsible”.

Akara subsequently submitted the pictures and accusation helium had gathered from the locations wherever his stolen telephone had been. The constabulary acknowledged receipt but took nary further action.

The Metropolitan Police had nary remark to marque connected Akara’s circumstantial case, but said it was “targeting resources to hotspot areas, specified arsenic Westminster, Lambeth and Newham, with accrued patrols and plain apparel officers which deter criminals and marque officers much visibly disposable to members of the community”.

Many different radical person contacted the BBC with their experiences of having their phones taken. One, James O’Sullivan, 44, from Surrey, says helium mislaid much than £25,000 erstwhile thieves utilized his stolen device's Apple Pay service.

Meanwhile, Katie Ashworth, from Newcastle, explained her telephone was snatched successful a parkland on with her watch, and a debit paper successful the telephone case.

“The saddest happening was that the telephone contained the past photos I had of my mum connected a locomotion earlier she got excessively unwell to truly bash thing - I would bash thing to get those photos back," the 36-year-old says.

Again, she says, determination was a deficiency of enactment from the police.

"The constabulary ne'er adjacent followed it up with me, contempt my slope transactions showing precisely wherever the thieves went," she said.

"The constabulary conscionable told maine to cheque Facebook Marketplace and section second-hand shops similar Cex."

So wherefore are the constabulary seemingly incapable to combat this offence - oregon retrieve stolen devices?

PC Mat Evans, who has led a squad moving connected this benignant of transgression for implicit a decennary wrong West Midlands Police, admitted that lone "quite a debased number" of phones that are stolen really get recovered.

He says the occupation is the velocity with which criminals move.

"Phones volition beryllium offloaded to known fences wrong a mates of hours," helium said.

"It's ever a conflict against the timepiece instantly pursuing immoderate of these crimes, but radical should ever study these things to the police, due to the fact that if we don't cognize that these crimes are taking place, we can't analyse them."

And sometimes conscionable 1 apprehension tin marque a difference.

"When we bash drawback these criminals, either successful the enactment oregon aft the fact, our transgression rates tank," helium said.

"Quite often that idiosyncratic has been liable for a immense swathe of crime."

But the occupation is not conscionable astir policing.

In a statement, Commander Richard Smith from the National Police Chiefs' Council, which brings unneurotic elder officers to assistance make policing strategy, said it would "continue to target" the astir prolific criminals.

"We cognize that we cannot apprehension our mode retired of this problem," helium said.

"Manufacturers and the tech manufacture person an important relation successful reducing opportunities for criminals to payment from the resale of stolen handsets."

Stolen phones tin already beryllium tracked and person their information erased done services specified arsenic "Find My iPhone" and "Find My Device", from Android.

But policing curate Dame Diana Johnson said this week the authorities wanted manufacturers to guarantee that immoderate stolen telephone could beryllium permanently disabled to forestall it being sold second-hand.

Police chiefs volition besides beryllium tasked with gathering much quality connected who is stealing phones and wherever stolen devices extremity up.

A increasing request for second-hand phones, some successful the UK and abroad, is believed to beryllium a large operator down the caller emergence successful thefts, the authorities said.

The Home Office is to big a acme astatine which tech companies and telephone manufacturers volition beryllium asked to see innovations that could assistance halt phones being traded illegally.

PC Evans said determination was "no magic bullet", but helium said determination was 1 happening manufacturers could bash which would beryllium "enormously helpful" to the constabulary - much close tracking.

"At this infinitesimal successful time, telephone tracking is okay," helium said.

"But it's not that country successful Total Recall yet, wherever you're capable to tally astir with a tracking instrumentality successful your hand, sprinting down the roadworthy aft a small bleeping dot.

"I admit it's a large inquire from the telephone companies to marque that a thing, but that would beryllium enormously adjuvant from a policing perspective."

Apple and Android did not supply the BBC with a statement, but Samsung said it was "working intimately with cardinal stakeholders and authorities connected the contented of mobile telephone theft and related crimes".

Additional reporting by Tom Singleton