I'd be livid if something like this happened. I think it's worth this chap getting the details of the police report, and speaking to someone on the force direct

I'd be livid if something like this happened. I think it's worth this chap getting the details of the police report, and speaking to someone on the force directly. He needs to be assured that he won't end up on any "lists". I'm not sure whether he has any legal recourse over this. I doubt it, but he has potentially been materially disadvantaged (if indeed, it goes "up the chain" and he finds visas being denied). At the very least, he needs to enumerate to his landlord the various ways in which this could seriously affect him, and ask for a rent reduction.