Birthday cakes for criminals sees crime drop by a fifth

A chief police officer is hand-delivering birthday cakes to criminals in a bid to cut down on crime. Chief Inspector Andy Boyd, the police commander in the Vale of White Horse, even pays for the £1.50 Victoria Sponge himself under a scheme targetting the worst criminals to let them know police are closely monitoring them.

Each cake is accompanied by a card that reads: “On your birthday we wish you well we would hate to see you in a cell. Time to change your ways, go straight, if you don’t, you know your fate.”

Mr Boyd said he believed the personal touch had contributed towards the 18 per cent cut in crime in the Vale area over the past five months.



Mr Boyd said: “We are robustly policing these offenders. “They are visited on an almost daily basis and when it is their birthday I will go to their houses and give them a birthday cake and a card.

“Their reaction is one of surprise, but the majority accept it in the spirit in which it’s delivered. They recognise that we are there to assist in helping them overcome any issues they may have. We are taking every opportunity to deter them from crime.”

Mr Boyd goes to Tesco to get the cakes and the birthday cards are produced at Abingdon police station. Figures released this week show the overall level of crime in the Vale has fallen by 18 per cent in the past five months.