4:11pm Monday 28th July 2008
By Matt Wilkinson
Criminals have unwittingly handed over tens of thousands of pounds from their illegal profits to Oxfordshire charities and community groups.
Thames Valley Police distributed £44,100 between May and December last year, raised by the sale of property confiscated from criminals.
The beneficiaries include Scout groups, youth organisations and charities, which have spent the ill-gotten gains to benefit the community.
Youth referral scheme Trax, based in Osney Mead, Oxford, helps troublesome teenagers to turn their lives around before they get caught up in serious crime.
They spent a £1,000 donation on helping persistent young offenders.
Manager Tamsin Jones said: "The money went towards our youth offending programme, whereby young people are referred to us and we do work on their behaviour and a bit of mechanics.
"It's really important for us to get funding from local sources.
"This is what should be happening. Criminals pay back their money, which goes back to into making the community a better place."
Among the other grants handed over by the force were £500 given to the Abingdon Bridge youth club, £2,000 to youth scheme Skidz in Banbury and £1,000 for Oxfordshire's Youth Mentoring Scheme.
Thames Valley Crimestoppers received £8,500, Oxfordshire Victim Support gained £6,000, West Oxfordshire Youth Project picked up £500 and the Thames Valley Police Special Constabulary Welfare Fund was paid £500.
The criminals' cash also helped Scouts from the county to attend a special centenary camp held near Banbury in May, which was organised by the Oxford Spires Scout District.
Treasurer David Ralphs said: "Sharing out this money is a great idea, so that these criminals don't profit from what they do.
"The police gave us £1,000 and it helped put on a camp for 1,000 young people. It costs a lot of money to hold an event like this but these criminals have unwittingly helped some of our poorer Scouts take part."
The money is available from the Police Property Act Fund.
Property either seized from criminals or which remains unclaimed is auctioned off by police, then charitable organisations can apply for a donation from the money the sales generates.
Nick Harverson, the Thames Valley force's head of corporate support, said: "Although we can't guarantee the amount of money in the fund in any one year, it does provide a welcome opportunity to convert the proceeds of criminal activity into something positive for the community."
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