Surveillance Footage from Business Owner Not Enough – Thieves Not Convicted for the Theft

After a break-in, the business owner realized he had caught the thieves on video. Despite handing over the footage to the police, the perpetrators were not convicted for the break-in.

One day in August 2023, Rickard Lundberg discovered that a break-in had occurred at his premises in Karlshamn, where he runs an e-commerce business. Since Lundberg has surveillance cameras, he was able to provide the police with video of the break-in and the thieves.

After posting about the break-in on social media, he received responses from followers who had noticed that stolen goods were being sold online. Sure enough, the items listed matched those from the break-in, and he asked an acquaintance to place an order with the seller—this way, he obtained both the name and the address of one of the suspected perpetrators. When he called the person and recorded the conversation, he basically got a confession.

Together with the footage from the surveillance cameras, the police also received the recorded phone call and images from the illegal sale. The case led to charges, and in December, two men were convicted in the Blekinge District Court. However, they were only prosecuted and convicted for handling stolen goods, not for the break-in itself, which would have led to a longer sentence.

“I was surprised and very disappointed. After all the work I did to basically hand over a complete preliminary investigation, and yet in the end, this is all that comes of it,” Rickard Lundberg told Tidningen Näringslivet.

Blekinge District Court. Photo: Magnus Lejhall

Did Not Get to See the Footage

According to Lundberg, the police changed the lead investigator several times during the investigation. Since the case only involved handling stolen goods and not burglary, Lundberg could only claim damages corresponding to the value of the goods the perpetrators were proven to have handled—that is, those seen in the photos online. Had the charges instead been for burglary, he could have claimed damages corresponding to the total value of all the stolen goods, which is ten times higher—30,000 kronor instead of 3,000 kronor.

It later emerged that the prosecutor never got to see any footage, as the police judged that the perpetrators could not be identified from it, and the preliminary investigator claimed not to know anything about the audio recording.

Lost Faith in the Justice System

Repairing the damage after the break-in has also cost 10,000 kronor in insurance deductible, but he says the worst part is the lost faith in the justice system.

During another break-in, the police did not even come to the scene.

“I think it’s sad that our police force functions this poorly. We who run private businesses provide tax revenue, and we feel ignored and neglected when things are handled this way. It feels like a mockery from the justice system.”