I joined Met police on a boot sale raid and was shocked by amount of stolen goods

Yahoo

28-05-2025

Scores of police officers gathered one early May morning in a Sainsbury's car park in east London.
I joined the Sidcup and Old Bexley police teams, which were out in force helping the operation.
They were preparing to raid a boot sale where intelligence suggested stolen tools were being sold.
Officers invited me as, together with Conservative colleagues, I've been pushing for stronger police action and tougher laws to stop tool theft.
With so many boot sales brazenly selling stolen goods and tool theft running rampant in too many places, this is the police action frustrated tradespeople want to see.
As officers arrived in police vans and unmarked cars, there was a flurry of action among some traders.
Stolen goods were hidden.
A van tried to flee.
And the keys to vehicles crowded with tools were 'lost'.
But the police had struck quickly and in numbers.
These unlicensed boot sales are notorious for selling stolen goods, but I was still astounded by the amount officers found.
Tables filled with olive oil were a giveaway — shoplifting is rising quickly as food prices increase again under the Labour government.
Stolen tools were hidden in thieves' vans and across traders' stalls.
Arrests were made, and the team began to identify stolen items and attempt to return them.
They even managed to contact one tradesman to return their tools while the raid was ongoing.
Eventually, they hit the motherlode with a van crammed with stolen tradesmen's tool bags.
The arrests led to other sites where even more tools were found.
In the end, officers recovered £500,000 of suspected stolen tools, with some 1,650 seized.
Despite this raid's success, the policing challenge is huge.
While some tool owners could be identified, criminals will remove many markings, making it difficult to prove that something is stolen and return working people's property.
The police message for all tradespeople is simple: mark your tools properly.
They are raiding boot sales and clamping down on tool theft.
But without proper tool marks, it isn't easy to return your property and lock up the criminals who stole it.
Various private companies offer solutions, like SelectaDNA, that work well.
Meanwhile, in Parliament, I'm working to toughen up the law to stop tool theft.
We're fighting for tougher sentences for tool theft, larger fines to cover the cost of the tools stolen, and a crackdown on boot sales selling stolen items.
Sadly, Labour MPs voted down our proposals despite promising action.
The Labour government cannot delay any longer.
Rampant tool theft is ruining the livelihoods of thousands of people across London.
This isn't a small problem; it's growing fast, with a van broken into every 12 minutes.
It's not just financially ruinous for working people but also impacts their mental health, leaving some depressed and even suicidal.
As this isn't simply about stolen property, tool theft prevents tradespeople from earning a living and providing for their family, forcing them to start again.
That's why we must stop tool theft now.