Globalisation and the pace of technological development have been pinpointed by a leading criminologist as the main causes for burglars turning their backs on their ‘profession’.  Yep, the poor lambs are having to put away that crowbar and face the prospect of ‘re-skilling’ for petty crime instead, as the burgling industry comes to its knees.

This July, James Treadwell of the University of Leicester’s Department of Criminology will present his case to British Society of Criminology, claiming that the increasing miniaturisation and commoditisation of technology has meant a fundamental shift, in the UK anyway, away from burglary and towards mugging.

Treadwell, according to TG Daily, claims that in particular, cheaper electronic goods from China and the Far East have altered behaviour among Britain’s housebreakers – essentially making them redundant. “If we look back to the 1980s and 1990s, the type of staple crimes would be, for example, very often burglary and car crime, and those crimes worked because they followed a business model and it was possible to break into a house and steal a video recorder and sell that at a profit,” he says.

“Cheap labour in China has had an impact on the type of crime that’s committed in the UK and the type of goods that are stolen today. Gradually, the prices of such goods has fallen so low that they almost have no resale value. If you can buy a DVD player for £19.99, it’s simply not worth stealing.” It’s now expensive, personal items which are the most attractive as they’re easier to sell on, leading the more enterprising criminals to re-skill.”

He continues, “While we might have seen a decline in some types of crime, we have seen a rise in other forms of criminal activity, particularly young people who seem to be mugging one another.” Treadwell says that while DVD players for example, got cheaper, certain consumer items have become smaller and are “very, very expensive and sought after”. Added Treadwell, “The latest mobile phone, or the latest iPod, which people carry about them, have become targets for robbers.”