Published by Robert L Senior Reporter on Monday 27th January 2025, at 16:00hrs
Vehicle related offences have significantly reduced following his arrest and imprisonment
A prolific thief from Blackburn has been handed a sixteen week prison sentence following a hearing at Blackburn Magistrates Court.
In an update posted today, Lancashire Police said:
“This is John James Rice. He is responsible for a spike of vehicle crime related incidents in the Blackburn North area.
The Blackburn Neighbourhood Policing Team noticed a spike in vehicle related offences in the Brownhill and Ramsgreave areas of Blackburn in October 2024.
Plain clothed policing operations were conducted by the BwD NPT in an attempt to catch the offender in the act.
With forthcoming information from members of the public and victims of crime, we were able to identify the person responsible for these offences as John James Rice of no fixed address.
On Saturday 16th November 2024 Rice was arrested and charged with 29 x Interference with a Motor Vehicle, 4 x Theft from Motor Vehicle and 1 x Criminal Damage to a Motor Vehicle. He was remanded in custody and attended Blackburn Magistrates Court.
Rice failed to appear to his next court date and breached his EMS tag conditions. On Friday 27th December 2024 officers arrested Rice for numerous Interference and Theft from Motor Vehicle offences both in the Lancashire and Greater Manchester area. He was subsequently charged with a further 5 x Interference with a Motor Vehicle, 1 x Theft from Motor Vehicle and 16 x EMS breaches. The BwD NPT remanded Rice where he has appeared at Preston Magistrates Court on Monday 30th December 2024.
On Thursday 2nd January 2025, Rice was arrested on the third occasion following new information he had committed 5 x Interference with a Motor Vehicle and 2 x Theft from Motor Vehicle offences in the Egerton and Bromley Cross areas of Bolton. The BwD NPT worked closely with the GMP Bolton North NPT and as a result, Rice was remanded in custody.
On Wednesday 23rd January 2025 Rice appeared at Preston Magistrates Court where he was imprisoned for 16 weeks.
Vehicle related offences have since significantly reduced and are NOT tolerated by Lancashire Constabulary. The BwD are looking closely at crime patterns in this area, conducting hotspot patrol and targeting of prolific offenders.
If you have been a victim of vehicle crime, please ensure this is reported to us at https://doitonline.lancashire.police.uk/PEDisclaimer/Create or contact us directly by ringing 101
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