‘Jammers’
Are said to work by scrambling the radio signal from remote locking devices on modern cars, allowing the thieves to gain access without a key.
- ‘Car signal jammers that have contributed to a surge in luxury vehicle thefts are to be outlawed, the Home Secretary will say this week (03/03/2025).
- Yvette Cooper will tell Parliament that she is banning the sale and possession of electronic devices which can be used to jam remote locks.
- At the moment, it is not a prosecutable offence to own such signal jammers, which are now used in four in 10 car thefts nationwide and six in 10 in London.
- There are few legitimate uses for the devices, but people can only currently be prosecuted if there is proof that they have used them to commit a crime.
- Under the new rules, the burden of proof will be reversed and anyone caught with one will have to demonstrate they own it for justifiable reasons.
page in progress – sorry … will attend to asap
‘contributed to a surge’
What surge, where are the figures?
banning sale & possession
Why? If a jammer has no legitimate use possession appears to fall to s25 Theft Act 1968 – ‘Going Eqipped to Steal’
6 in 10 thefts (London)
This appears to be a statistic from the 2022/23 Crime Survey i.e. the response to a questionnaire by victims. How would they know the means by which a vehicle was taken or entry gained?
‘few’ legitimate uses
And what are these legitimate uses? On the one hand we are told ‘no legitimate use’, on the other, it appears there exist some ‘excuses’ for possession; which is it?
burden of proof
If there is no legitimate use for these articles, burner of proof (concerning use/intent) appears inconsequential – possession is for criminality. End of story!
Fraud
The elephant in the room?
Where is the reference to fraudulent reports of vehicle theft or theft from a vehicle?
