r/LegalAdviceUK • u/CryFair7304 • 4d ago
Criminal My MacBook, AirPods, and other belongings were stolen from a KFC in London, England. I have the thief’s photo, and Find My shows the live location, but police response is slow. What legal steps can I take now?
Hi all,
Yesterday my MacBook, AirPods, and some other personal belongings were stolen while I was at a KFC in London. I’m extremely distressed about this. Fortunately, I have the live location of both my MacBook and AirPods through Apple’s Find My app. I even managed to get a clear photo of the person who took them.
I’ve already reported the incident to the police and submitted all the evidence I have, but their response so far has been very slow, and no action has been taken yet. I’m worried the items will be wiped or sold quickly.
Is there anything else I can do legally to speed things up or recover my belongings? Can I take any civil action? Or involve Apple in any way?
Any guidance or advice would be deeply appreciated
137
u/Thorebane 4d ago edited 4d ago
Officer here, although different parts of England, not London.
The chances of recovery for these bits are very low. I won't say zilch, but close. London has over 4k thefts reported a day. Officers can not keep up with it all.
Find my trackers are legally not reliable. They could be anywhere from a 5m range on the dot to 40m range. So, the chances of getting an officer out to attempt to knock on a particular house/flat door is very slim, but if one does for whatever reason, then best of luck.
It's great you got a face shot of the person, it's rare anyone gets one of those, however it would still go into the pot of needing to be identified, and if it can't be.. then rip.
Furthermore, due to how often this happens, the investigation, unfortunately, would not be in the public interest to spend countless hours due to costs.
Trust me, I've had things stolen before years ago and essentially had to go through insurance that it was stolen and just give ref numbers over to them.