Crime a day reported at region's bookies
A crime is reported at a bookmakers in the Midlands almost every day – and the number has increased.
They even include four sexual offences reported inside bookies in the region between 2012 and 2015.
The figures were released by West Midlands Police under a Freedom of Information Act request. They revealed there were 354 crimes reported at bookmakers last year alone. This is up from 307 in 2012 and 347 in 2013.
Information was provided for William Hill, Ladbrokes, and Coral premises. The figures are further broken down to show since 2012 there have been 256 incidents reported inside Ladbrokes premises, 350 at William Hill, and 176 at Coral.
These include two sexual assaults reported at Ladbrokes last year and one at a Coral in 2013.
Today's figures relate to incidents in the West Midlands Police area. But the problem of crime in betting shops is one that has affected Shropshire too.
Two men robbed cash from a Telford betting shop earlier this year using knives to threaten staff. The incident happened in Madeley in February when two men entered Bet Fred in Russell Square.
There was also a robbery in June 2013 at William Hill in Abbey Foregate, Shrewsbury, where £230 was taken.
In the Midlands, in June this year, a man was hospitalised after being stabbed in a fight at William Hill in Whitmore Reans, Wolverhampton. Police descended on the bookmakers after getting reports a man in his 20s had been stabbed in the back.
West Midlands Police were unavailable for comment.
