Mobile phone thefts

Request Number: FOI/16248

Category: Incident and Crime Statistics - Burglary and Theft

Subject: Mobile phone thefts

Request and Answer:
Your request for information has now been considered. In respect of Section 1(1)(a) of the Act we can confirm that the Police Service of Northern Ireland does hold information to which your request relates. The decision has been taken to disclose the following.

Question 1
The number of recorded mobile phone thefts (broken down by month in 2025 and 2024 and locations in Northern Ireland, if possible)

- Any breakdowns by region, demographics, or time of day Hotspots for phone thefts (e.g. public transport, nightlife areas, shopping districts etc)

Answer 
The following tables are based on all recorded burglary, robbery and theft offences where property described as Mobile phones & accessories was classified as stolen, during the period January 2024 and September 2025.  

The location type indicates that an offence took place at or within the vicinity of the premises type. Therefore the offence may not have taken place in the named premises. 

Please Note: This is management information based on data extracted from a live system and may be subject to change. It is dependent on the information having been input into the system in such a way as to identify those records that are relevant.

¹ Gender unknown may include persons who have not identified as either male or female.

Question 2
Estimations for December figures, EOY figures, and 2026 figures

Answer
In relation to request 2, we believe that under Section 8 (1) of the FOIA, a valid request must be for recorded information that we hold and it is our opinion that this is not a valid FOI request.

It is our opinion this is not a valid FOI request by virtue of being a request for future information, and not a request for information held. Section 84 of FOIA relates to recorded information held by a public authority and that it does not extend to providing explanations or opinions unless the answers are already held in a recorded form. Information is defined in section 84 of the Act as 'information recorded in any form'.

The Act therefore only extends to requests for recorded information. It does not require public authorities (in this case the PSNI) to answer questions generally; only if they already hold the answers in recorded form. The Act does not extend to requests for information about policies or their implementation, or the merits or demerits of any proposal or action - unless, of course, the answer to any such request is already held in recorded form." (Day vs ICO & DWP – EA/2006/0069 Final Decision). We can also refer you to the ICO guidance at: How to access information from a public authority | ICO

Accordingly, we have determined that the Police Service of Northern Ireland does not hold the Information to which you seek access.