A rise in street crime in the UK has been blamed specifically on iPods, other digital media devices, and cell phones, according to new crime statistics released in the UK. London's daily Metro ran the story as its Thursday headline story with the title "Rise in crime blamed on iPods," citing an 8% increase in some reported crimes.

In reality, it's specifically street crime and muggings that are being blamed on the proliferation of expensive cell phones and iPods, whereas other crime categories saw a mix of downward and upward trends.

Reported robberies rose from 90,747 in the last reporting year to 98,204 in the newly reported year. Violent offenses increased some 2% to 1.22 million.

UK's InTheNews.co.uk noted that, "domestic burglary declined by seven per cent, vehicle crime is down three per cent and 'more serious' violent crime dropped 13 per cent, according to Home Office figures, which are based on reported crimes."

"I share the concerns of many people that the numbers of violent offences recorded by the police have increased, particularly robbery," UK home secretary John Reid said. "This is largely driven by a rise in the numbers of young people carrying expensive goods such as mobile phones and MP3 players. Whilst that is a reason, it is not an excuse."

The Metro is a free daily distributed in the greater London area, with a circulation of 1.8 million.

The Thursday front page of London's daily Metro
(Click the thumbnail for the somewhat large, full-size scan.)