Shoplifters are getting away with it more than ever - here is how
8 months, 2 weeks ago

Shoplifters are getting away with it more than ever - here is how

The Independent  

The thing is, do they really need my money?” asks Sophie*, who is not using her real name for obvious reasons. “With the reduction of service you get in a lot of shops, a lot of people go in and think, ‘Well this didn’t scan,’ or ‘It’s very difficult to scan these things through and I shop here all the time’; ‘It’s not my fault, I’m owed it.’” “At the moment, to be honest, they’re all busy seasons for us,” says Lauren Paver, commercial director at Triton Security, which works with some of the biggest businesses in the UK. They’re thinking, ‘Well, I spent enough money in here, and I’m only taking back £2.’ They’re justifying their attitude.” Sophie says her mum – a white, middle-class, well-spoken woman – would often hold products in her hand while paying, and when asked to pay for them would simply say “I think we’ve spent enough money in here” and walk off. “In Waitrose, for example, Mum would scan half of the products through the till saying: ‘One for me, one for you, one for me, one for you.’” Have they ever been caught? “Now it might be a ‘professional’ thief, or someone hungry – or just someone who walked into a store and fancied a lobster on Christmas Day.”

Think Store Mum Sophie My Mum Kinnon  store  walk  middleclass  away  shoplifters  weve  security  sophie  think  mum  shes  getting  theyre

History of this topic

Well-spoken woman, 50, accused of shoplifting a bottle of white wine after walking out of east London store with it under her coat blames 'memory problems' when she's confronted
5 days, 7 hours ago

Well-spoken woman, 50, accused of shoplifting a bottle of white wine after walking out of east London store with it under her coat blames 'memory problems' when she's confronted

Daily Mail  

A 'well-spoken' woman, who was accused of shoplifting a bottle of white wine from a boutique grocery store, blamed 'memory problems' when confronted. A 'well-spoken' woman, who was accused of shoplifting a bottle of white wine from a boutique grocery store, blamed 'memory problems' when confronted Twitter account @CrimeLdn, known for reporting local crime, also shared the video on X, …

Shoplifting in my store is so bad I've had to make 50 citizen's arrests myself - it's the only way I can get the police to turn up!
3 weeks, 1 day ago

Shoplifting in my store is so bad I've had to make 50 citizen's arrests myself - it's the only way I can get the police to turn up!

Daily Mail  

A have-a-go-hero store owner in one of Britain's under-siege town centres plagued by shoplifters says he has to make citizen's arrests as the only way for police to show. Happy Piranha store owner Martin Gaunt has revealed how they have carried out 50 citizen's arrests in two years due to shoplifters He has installed 12 CCTV cameras at his three …

Shoplifting epidemic adds 10p ‘crime tax’ to every transaction as minister vows end to ‘shameful neglect’ of retail crime
1 month, 3 weeks ago

Shoplifting epidemic adds 10p ‘crime tax’ to every transaction as minister vows end to ‘shameful neglect’ of retail crime

The Independent  

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Get our free View from Westminster email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy A surge in shoplifting under the Conservatives has led to shoppers …

The UK's shoplifting hotspots: Interactive map reveals areas with highest number of store thefts - as inquiry finds number of reported crimes are a just a 'drop in the ocean'
2 months ago

The UK's shoplifting hotspots: Interactive map reveals areas with highest number of store thefts - as inquiry finds number of reported crimes are a just a 'drop in the ocean'

Daily Mail  

A new interactive map reveals the UK's shoplifting hotspots, with the scale of the crisis varying dramatically area by area. Police data shows the North East takes the top spot for shoplifting crimes, with a rate of 11.5 per 1,000 people - 35 per cent higher than the national average. Shoplifting in England and Wales surged by 26 per cent …

Stop trivialising ‘devastating’ high street thefts, police urged
2 months ago

Stop trivialising ‘devastating’ high street thefts, police urged

The Telegraph  

According to official figures, there were 443,995 incidents of theft from shops recorded by police in the year to March 2024, up 30pc on a year earlier. The British Retail Consortium estimates that there are 17m incidents of shop theft every year, costing retailers almost £2bn every year. Lord Foster said there was more to do to educate the public …

Britain's shoplifting shame: Stores are suffering two thefts every minute as retail theft hits highest level since records began
2 months, 2 weeks ago

Britain's shoplifting shame: Stores are suffering two thefts every minute as retail theft hits highest level since records began

Daily Mail  

Britain's stores are suffering two thefts every minute as retail theft has hit its highest level since records began. Chief constables now face questions about policing priorities after official data revealed nearly 6,000 crimes went unsolved every day last year, with 40 per cent of all recorded crimes going unpunished. Almost 444,000 shoplifting offences were recorded by forces in England …

Shoplifting at an all-time high with 1,300 offences recorded every day, new figures show
2 months, 2 weeks ago

Shoplifting at an all-time high with 1,300 offences recorded every day, new figures show

The Independent  

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Please try again later {{ …

I lost a baby over stress of thefts from my store: Shoplifting costs Scottish retailers more than £60m a year but why DO shop owners like Natalie feel so utterly abandoned by the police, courts and MS
3 months, 1 week ago

I lost a baby over stress of thefts from my store: Shoplifting costs Scottish retailers more than £60m a year but why DO shop owners like Natalie feel so utterly abandoned by the police, courts and MS

Daily Mail  

Eight years on from the worst experience of her career Natalie Lightfoot is still trying to heal. Natalie Lightfoot says shoplifters are becoming increasingly brazen Ms Lightfoot's Londis Convenience Store in Baillieston in Glasgow Now 42, she has learned qualifications and business nous count for little in the face of a rising tide of retail crime and violence variously described …

Northumbria shoplifter banned from all but three shops after racking up 171 convictions
3 months, 2 weeks ago

Northumbria shoplifter banned from all but three shops after racking up 171 convictions

The Independent  

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy A prolific shopkeeper has been …

The theft epidemic and ‘terrifying’ violence plaguing Britain’s shopkeepers
5 months, 3 weeks ago

The theft epidemic and ‘terrifying’ violence plaguing Britain’s shopkeepers

The Telegraph  

Restaurants and cafes have been found to buy stolen meat and alcohol to increase their mark-up. “The sheer volume of what they are taking can’t be sold in a pub.” The Co-op knows of criminals setting up stalls full of stolen goods and selling them on. “It’s not people who are struggling to make ends meet that are doing the …

Inside Britain’s ‘out of control’ shoplifting crisis as even pound shops are targeted
7 months, 2 weeks ago

Inside Britain’s ‘out of control’ shoplifting crisis as even pound shops are targeted

The Independent  

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. “Shoplifting is pretty horrific at the moment, it’s out …

Britain's police 'aren't interested' in tackling shoplifting anymore, Marks & Spencer's boss claims - as store theft offences surge to the highest level ever
7 months, 3 weeks ago

Britain's police 'aren't interested' in tackling shoplifting anymore, Marks & Spencer's boss claims - as store theft offences surge to the highest level ever

Daily Mail  

The boss of Marks & Spencer has claimed that Britain's police 'aren't interested' in tackling shoplifting anymore. Archie Norman, chairman for the major retailer, told LBC News that stores across the country get 'very little help' from officers, even though retail theft hit the highest level on record last year. M&S chairman Archie Norman told LBC News that stores across …

M&S boss says police no longer interested in tackling shoplifting
7 months, 3 weeks ago

M&S boss says police no longer interested in tackling shoplifting

The Independent  

Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} The chair of …

Keir Starmer pledges to toughen laws on shoplifting and scrap the £200 theft threshold
8 months, 1 week ago

Keir Starmer pledges to toughen laws on shoplifting and scrap the £200 theft threshold

Daily Mail  

Labour would scrap the £200 shoplifting threshold, Sir Keir Starmer confirmed as he backed the Mail campaign to crack down on assaults against staff. It emerged last week that shoplifting has risen to the highest level since records began in 2003, with 430,104 offences recorded by police last year. Sir Keir Starmer has pledged to reverse what he called a …

Keir Starmer puts shoplifters ‘on notice’ in crackdown on epidemic of thefts and assaults on retail workers
8 months, 1 week ago

Keir Starmer puts shoplifters ‘on notice’ in crackdown on epidemic of thefts and assaults on retail workers

The Independent  

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Get our free View from Westminster email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. At a speech today at the Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers’s annual conference, …

Met has worst rate for solving shoplifting cases
8 months, 2 weeks ago

Met has worst rate for solving shoplifting cases

The Telegraph  

Sussex had a 10 per cent detection rate, West Midlands, Surrey, Bedfordshire, Avon and Somerset and Northumbria. This contrasted with Norfolk’s 35.2 per cent, followed by Cumbria 33.8 per cent, Suffolk 31.4 per cent, South Yorkshire 30.1 per cent and Humberside 28.1 per cent. ‘All about risk’ David McKelvey, a former Scotland Yard detective chief inspector, who runs a private …

Shoplifting offences rise to highest level since records began: Store thefts jump by more than a THIRD compared to 2022 - with 430,104 offences recorded in last 12 months, figures show
8 months, 2 weeks ago

Shoplifting offences rise to highest level since records began: Store thefts jump by more than a THIRD compared to 2022 - with 430,104 offences recorded in last 12 months, figures show

Daily Mail  

Shoplifting has risen to the highest level on record amid complaints the crime has been effectively 'decriminalised', new data revealed today. The figure is the highest since current records began in the year to March 2003 This is the moment two shoplifters brazenly steal products from a Boots store just yards from a police station - as helpless staff watch …

Labour blames ‘shoplifter’s charter’ for rising store thefts
8 months, 2 weeks ago

Labour blames ‘shoplifter’s charter’ for rising store thefts

The Independent  

Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy A “shoplifter’s charter” has seen charging for the offence plummet …

Police urged to crack down on violence against retail workers amid record shoplifting offences
11 months ago

Police urged to crack down on violence against retail workers amid record shoplifting offences

The Independent  

Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Police are being urged to take tougher action against attacks …

Is YOUR area a shoplifter's paradise? Shocking interactive map reveals where thieves are getting away scot-free… with just a 5% conviction rate in worst region
1 year ago

Is YOUR area a shoplifter's paradise? Shocking interactive map reveals where thieves are getting away scot-free… with just a 5% conviction rate in worst region

Daily Mail  

A new interactive map reveals the huge disparity in where shoplifters get off without being charged, laying bare the crime wave affecting England's supermarkets and shops. Brazen shoplifters stealing for a shop in Doncaster, South Yorkshire in October this year The shoplifter leaves the store after stealing items from the store on October 30 2023 Paul Gerrard, director of public …

Don't beg or borrow, just steal: European gangs exploiting trafficked women and children in UK shoplifting epidemic
1 year ago

Don't beg or borrow, just steal: European gangs exploiting trafficked women and children in UK shoplifting epidemic

Firstpost  

Groups send members across the UK to shoplift, even trafficking young girls aged 12 to 14 for this purpose. Despite arrests and convictions, their age often results in quick release Retail experts have issued a warning that Eastern European criminal gangs are trafficking hundreds of vulnerable women and children to the UK, compelling them to shoplift for illicit gains. This …

Private force prosecutes 300 shoplifters
1 year, 2 months ago

Private force prosecutes 300 shoplifters

The Telegraph  

The courts treat the private prosecutions like any other by the CPS, which means that shoplifters can face up to seven years in jail for goods worth more than £200 and up to six months for those less than £200. “The important point is that we are on the scene within minutes of an offence or at the time of …

Police pledge shoplifting crackdown with facial recognition to make ‘hostile environment’ for thieves
1 year, 2 months ago

Police pledge shoplifting crackdown with facial recognition to make ‘hostile environment’ for thieves

The Independent  

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. The plan, which Mr Philp called a “step change” …

Police resist demands to respond to every case of shoplifting
1 year, 2 months ago

Police resist demands to respond to every case of shoplifting

The Telegraph  

Police chiefs are resisting demands to respond to every case of shoplifting despite a record surge in thefts from stores. Ministers want police to investigate every crime – including shoplifting below £200 – where there is a reasonable line of inquiry. However, police chiefs argue that it is “not realistic” for officers to respond to every case of shoplifting because …

The shocking rise of shoplifting: Map reveals retail theft hotspots across Britain after 365,000 cases in the past year - so is YOUR area on the list?
1 year, 2 months ago

The shocking rise of shoplifting: Map reveals retail theft hotspots across Britain after 365,000 cases in the past year - so is YOUR area on the list?

Daily Mail  

Shoplifting has surged by 25 per cent – in the latest shocking sign of lawlessness in 'Wild West Britain'. Overall, police recorded crime in England and Wales was 4% higher than the previous year with 6.7million crimes recorded compared with 6.5million in the year ending June 2022, according to the Office of National Statistics. Knife possession offences were also up …

Shopkeepers take the law into their own hands in war against shoplifting epidemic
1 year, 2 months ago

Shopkeepers take the law into their own hands in war against shoplifting epidemic

The Independent  

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. open image in gallery Poundland sales assistant Kelvin Blake …

Shoplifting hits record high of 1,000 offences a day
1 year, 2 months ago

Shoplifting hits record high of 1,000 offences a day

The Telegraph  

Shoplifting has hit a record high of 1,000 offences a day, an unprecedented 25 per cent increase in a year, official figures showed on Thursday. However, the detection rate for shoplifters has fallen to a record low with just 18.2 per cent of offences being solved, less than half the 46 per cent when records began in 2016. The figures …

Home Bargains set up ‘confidential hotline’ to report shoplifting with £500 reward
1 year, 2 months ago

Home Bargains set up ‘confidential hotline’ to report shoplifting with £500 reward

The Independent  

Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Home Bargains has launched a confidential hotline for customers to report information about shoplifting …

We live in the shoplifting capital of Britain... it's completely LAWLESS, we've given up on the police
1 year, 3 months ago

We live in the shoplifting capital of Britain... it's completely LAWLESS, we've given up on the police

Daily Mail  

Store owners in Britain's shoplifting capital are living in a 'lawless' town where gangland bosses rule the streets and thieves openly sell their stolen goods. Shop owners and locals in Hartlepool, which falls under the protection of Cleveland Police, told MailOnline criminal gang bosses had taken charge and shoplifting was rife. Cleveland topped the rankings as the place with the …

UK's shoplifting capitals: Interactive map reveals the places where light-fingered locals are ransacking stores the worst - so how bad is YOUR area?
1 year, 3 months ago

UK's shoplifting capitals: Interactive map reveals the places where light-fingered locals are ransacking stores the worst - so how bad is YOUR area?

Daily Mail  

Less than 20 per cent of shoplifting offences resulted in suspects being charged As Britain reels from a shoplifting crisis that is hitting stores across the country, the worst areas afflicted by the crime have been revealed. Cleveland tops the table as the place with the most number of shoplifting crimes in the past five years per 1,000 people. Cleveland …

‘We kept him for two hours. But the police never came’: the reality on the shoplifting frontline
1 year, 3 months ago

‘We kept him for two hours. But the police never came’: the reality on the shoplifting frontline

The Telegraph  

In the back office of his family-run grocers in Croydon, south London, Ben Selvaratnam is reviewing CCTV footage. “This is yesterday’s incident,” he says, looking at a video clip of two men loading a carrier bag with alcohol and laundry detergent. They’re taking their time – they don’t expect to be challenged.” The recent tide of retail crime started rising …

Scotland's hidden epidemic of crime as shoplifters, domestic abusers and even sex criminals escape with a slap on wrist
1 year, 3 months ago

Scotland's hidden epidemic of crime as shoplifters, domestic abusers and even sex criminals escape with a slap on wrist

Daily Mail  

SCOTLAND is in the grip of a hidden crime epidemic – with sex offenders, domestic abusers and shoplifters being let off with a slap on the wrist. It also emerged that more than 1,500 domestic abuse cases over the past three years had ended with ‘diversion’ from prosecution, warnings and fines. Scottish Tory justice spokesman Russell Findlay said RPWs ‘are …

Shoplifting is now an epidemic, says John Lewis boss
1 year, 3 months ago

Shoplifting is now an epidemic, says John Lewis boss

The Independent  

Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Shoplifting has become …

Thieves target stores every TWO seconds in Britain, costing retailers more than £1billion last year alone, shocking figures show - as Suella Braverman backs a Mail campaign to end the shoplifting epid
1 year, 3 months ago

Thieves target stores every TWO seconds in Britain, costing retailers more than £1billion last year alone, shocking figures show - as Suella Braverman backs a Mail campaign to end the shoplifting epid

Daily Mail  

The Mail on Sunday today reveals the shocking reality of the epidemic of shoplifting that is blighting Britain, as we launch a major campaign to crack down on the crime. The Mail on Sunday's campaign – calling for the police, Crown Prosecution Service and courts to be much tougher with shoplifters, and for a change in the law to make …

Arrest shoplifters even if they steal goods under £200, says policing minister
1 year, 4 months ago

Arrest shoplifters even if they steal goods under £200, says policing minister

The Telegraph  

He said that unless stringent action was taken, British cities could end up like San Francisco, where shops were forced to close because of an escalation in violent shoplifting. He told Parliament two months ago: “We have seen that elsewhere in the world – I think in particular about San Francisco, as well as other American cities – where both …

Police searching for brazen shoplifters captured emptying shopping carts full of goods
3 years, 1 month ago

Police searching for brazen shoplifters captured emptying shopping carts full of goods

Daily Mail  

Police are searching for a group of shoplifters who were captured flinging household products into their two stolen vehicles after swiping the items from a Connecticut grocery store before speeding away. Stunned onlookers watched as the brazen bandits methodically unloaded shopping carts full of laundry detergent and paper towels into a minivan and an SUV that police say were stolen. …

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