Sgt Young said: We have a large number of seizures of stolen property but such a high standard of proof is

Sgt Young said: “We have a large number of seizures of stolen property, but such a high standard of proof is required that very often cases never get to court.He added: “The offence of handling stolen goods is one of the most difficult to prove as there is no onus on the suspect to give an explanation as to where he got it from. It is a disappointing job in terms of turning information into evidence.”Woe betide any Brighton detective who puts a foot wrong, as he can find himself the subject of a complaint by the very people he is pursuing. All too often, due to lack of concrete evidence, police are obliged to return stolen goods to the suspects. Only last year, one particular hoard was put on show in the hope that its owners would come forward to claim it. But, Sgt Young said, “as we couldn’t prove that it was stolen, it all went back to the person we seized it from”.Ironically, the occasional breakthrough often comes from the criminals themselves, when they inform on their fellows. “Sometimes an informant gets in touch because he is after reward money,” Mr Hill explains But he adds that these are rare breaks “We were lucky if we solved 10 per cent of the cases.”.

COUNCILS across Britain are poised to spend up to pounds 1m on painting out their past. More than 50 new councils are being created on 1 April and many have produced fresh images, ranging from changed logos and vehicle liveries to new notepaper and school signs. In Scotland, all councils have to make changes to their coats of arms as well. One authority, Falkirk, estimates it will cost pounds 45,000 to implement just essential changes.
For most of the council areas involved, it will be the third logo and livery in two decades.Councils may be hard-up and cutting back in social services and other areas, but widespread changes in logos and images have a high priority in the reorganisation at the end of next month. Advertising and design studios have been used by some councils to produce new logos. Monmouthshire in Wales estimates its new logo has cost around pounds 15,000.At the end of next month, big local government changes will see 22 new unitary authorities in Wales and 29 in Scotland, which will replace the two-tier system of districts and counties or regions. In England, three councils – Avon, Humberside and Cleveland – are being split into 12 unitary authorities.A Glasgow Council spokesman said: “The Lord Lyon King of Arms has decreed that in the four cities – Glasgow, Edinburgh, Dundee and Aberdeen – the five thistles in the crown at the top will disappear and be replaced by battlements.

It is a tiny change which you can hardly notice, but it has big consequences because it will need to be implemented.”In non-cities like Falkirk, the thistles will be replaced by a wheatsheaf. “We estimate that the cost of implementing all the changes will be around pounds 45,000 and that is after we have brought it down to the essentials,” said a spokesman for the council.Elizabeth Roads, Lyon Clerk and Keeper of the Records in Edinburgh, said: “The coronets in the coats of arms have had to be changed to specify the new authorities. Thistles are not on the new coats of arms because they were for the district councils, which are disappearing.”. CAN a machine sulk? When Deep Blue, the IBM super computer, lost the fifth game of its chess match against Garry Kasparov early yesterday morning, it looked almost as though artificial apathy was the cause. The problem began when Kasparov offered the machine a draw in a roughly level position after 23 moves.