Champ Ricky joins the fight against crime

Champion boxer Ricky Hatton has joined forces with Crimestoppers to encourage more people to come forward and report crime.

The Fight Crime campaign was launched this week at Ricky’s gym in Hyde and will be extended across Greater Manchester via radio ads, Bluetooth messages, community events and mailouts.

Ricky said: “So many people suffer as a result of the activities of criminals. Being a Manchester lad I have always tried to give back to my local community and make a difference. I would encourage local people to have the courage and fight crime without revealing their identity by contacting Crimestoppers.

“Throughout my career I have received great support from people throughout the North West and now I would like them to support me again as we seek to make our communities safer and better places to bring up our kids.

“By supporting Crimestoppers we are taking the fight to the criminals.”

Gary Murray, Crimestoppers’ North West regional manager said: “It is brilliant to have Ricky supporting the campaign. He is a great role model in and out of the ring, always showing tremendous courage.

“For many in the community it takes a lot of courage to contact Crimestoppers, hopefully they will follow Ricky’s lead and help us to fight crime.

“Last year more than 5,500 people in Greater Manchester gave us information, leading to over 550 arrests.

“It would be a great way to start the decade if in 2010 as a result of this campaign we had our most successful year yet.”

Around 19 people are arrested and charged every day as a result of information given to Crimestoppers.

One person every four days is charged with murder.

Since Crimestoppers started in 1988, it has received over a million actionable calls, resulting in around 91,000 arrests and charges. Over £167 million worth of property has been recovered and over £160 million worth of drugs has been seized.

In 2006, Crimestoppers launched the UK’s Most Wanted on its website which allows the public to view images of criminals and pass on vital information about their whereabouts.

It has been highly successful with over 500 arrests to date from 2,500 appeals posted.

You can call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.