Jason Higo, a prolific house burglar with 72 convictions for 30 offences, and his partner Stephen O'Leary, have been sent to prison.

The pair broke into an address on the 14th December to steal items to sell on. They then broke into the same house later on that day to steal more items, but were distrubed by the owner. She contacted the police who caught the pair exiting the property with a rucksack full of property.

Higo was jailed for four years and O'Leary was given an 18 month sentence for his role in the burglary.

For more information, read the article on the Yorkshire Evening Post website, here:

http://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/news/latest-news/central-leeds/leeds_one_man_crime_wave_jailed_1_4163276

On Friday the 20^th and Saturday the 21^st of February, Knowledge will be part of Leeds University Union’s House Hunting Fair, held at the Riley Smith Hall between 10am and 4pm.

At the fair, you’ll be able meet approved landlords, get contracts checked and find out more about local green projects such as Leave Leeds Tidy & Green Streets.

Knowledge will be holding a stall, providing helpful advice on how to stay safe in the city. So if you have any questions, or are after some crime prevention tips, then pop down and say hello! 

For more information, click here. 

The traditional UV pen property marking system has now been superseded by Hermes Property Registration equipment, something that promises to make a huge impact on the levels of burglaries and robberies in both the private rented sector and campus accommodation.

The Hermes system is linked to the National Property Registration site Immobilise, which in turn is linked to the National Police Index. The system works as follows: - students are visited by University Security / Leeds North West NPT Officers and input their details name, address, email, etc onto the registration screen of the Immobilise site (through a portable laptop). They will subsequently receive an email from Immobilise containing a life-long account number.

The Hermes kit contains a scanning gun so that when registration is completed the Security Officer or Police Officer simply has to touch the bar code of items, which will then automatically be registered to the student’s account. Once the student has received an account number, they can send an email with the serial number/bar code number of any new electrical items; if they lose registered property or sell items, an email to Immobilise will again update the system. If the police recover a lost or stolen item, the Hermes system ensures a quicker return of property to the rightful owner.

Not only can Hermes be used to find the appropriate owner of recovered lost/stolen goods, it can also be transported to known outlets of stolen property (i.e. second hand shops, addresses of known burglars and even on suspected thieves in the street).

This will drastically cut down the market for receivers of stolen property, effectively cutting down on thieves’ ability to make profit from the items they steal. Use of Hermes is due to commence at Leeds Met at the end of November/beginning of December so look out for property registration dates circulated over Leeds Met media. Over a three year period all first year students, staff members and Leeds Met students living in the private sector will be registered.

Property marking will also be conducted at Leeds University in the near future (dates TBC).

Taken together, this amounts to a huge deterrent to criminals targeting students in Leeds, as well as those profiting from stolen property.

Operation Dancefloor is a West Yorkshire police initiative, bringing together the police, nightclubs, students and door staff in an effort to tackle theft in clubs.

Don’t let a thief ruin your night: keep your eye on your stuff when you’re out.

If you see anything suspicious, report it to the door staff.

For more information visit: www.westyorkshire.police.uk/dancefloor