Police push for phone companies to be forced to make stolen handsets unusable

Police execute search warrants at shops suspected of handling stolen devices, in the Holloway area of London (Jordan Pettitt/PA) - (PA Wire)

Britain’s biggest police force is pushing the Home Secretary to force phone companies to make stolen devices harder to reuse as chief Sir Mark Rowley continues a crusade to make the handsets “unusable bricks”.

Sir Mark issued an ultimatum in March calling on telecoms giants to take action to make phones less desirable to steal by making them impossible to reuse.