Foreign nationals accused of 120,000 crimes in the UK last year

Foreign criminals were accused of committing nearly 120,000 offences across the country last year, new data shows.

Assault, drug dealing and shoplifting offences were the most common crimes which led to an arrest of a foreign national suspect, the broadcaster Talk found.

Information from 37 police forces across England and Wales, obtained under freedom of information laws, detailed how many arrests of a foreign national took place between August 2023 and July 2024.

The research found more than 44,000 foreign nationals were detained during the year for common assault, assault by beating or the broader category of 'violence against the person'.

Shoplifting or other types of theft were the next most common category of crime committed by people from overseas, with 5,400 arrests.

Drug offences were the third most frequently recorded crime committed by foreign nationals last year, with 4,422 arrests.

In all, 119,805 arrests of foreign nationals were made by the 37 forces which responded to Talk's investigation.

Some of the data may have involved the same individuals being arrested for more than one crime, police forces noted.