Law offices hit by computer thieves

The Ministry of Justice was hardest hit, suffering the loss or theft of 154 laptop computers and 96 BlackBerry devices since 2008.

A further 24 laptops and 52 mobile devices disappeared from the Home Office, the UK Border Agency and the Identity and Passport Office, statistics uncovered by Freedom of Information requests by computer security firm F-Secure show.

The Metropolitan Police – Britain's largest force, with national responsibility for counter-terrorism and other specialist areas – lost or had stolen 11 laptops, 12 BlackBerrys and five other mobiles. The Home Office said no members of staff were disciplined for the losses, while the Ministry of Justice and the Met could not confirm whether any disciplinary action was taken.

Tom Gaffney, security advisor at F-Secure UK, said: "If just one of these devices fell into the wrong hands it has the potential to do huge damage to this country's crime-fighting ability."