Electronic items now 'too cheap to be worth stealing'

CRIMINALS have found new targets since globalisation brought down the prices of some household goods.

Instead of home burglaries, crooks are concentrating on muggings, experts at the University of Leicester found. They said cheaper electronic goods from the Far East were forcing thieves to rethink their shopping lists.

Criminology lecturer James Treadwell said: "If you can buy a DVD player for 19.99, it's simply not worth stealing."