Britain’s shoplifting crisis is even worse than official figures suggest, retail experts warned today – as police figures showed offences have soared by 30 per cent in a year to the highest level in two decades.
Almost 444,000 crimes were recorded by forces in England and Wales in the year to March, up from 342,428 in the previous 12 months. This is the highest figure since records began in 2003, according to the Office for National Statistics.
But industry figures say underreporting means shoplifting is even more endemic than currently thought, with many store owners not bothering to report offences to overwhelmed police and criminal gangs operating without any fear of being caught.
New footage filmed yesterday shows a group of men brazenly grabbing goods from a Boots store in north London before loading them into bags in front of shocked shoppers.
A customer at the store in Barnet tells one of the men ‘you need to stop’. He replies ‘yeah, I’m going innit’ as he continues stripping shelves with no attempt to hide what he is doing.
Almost 444,000 shoplifting offences were recorded by forces in England and Wales in the year to March, up from 342,428 in the previous 12 months
New footage filmed yesterday shows a group of men brazenly grabbing goods from a Boots store in north London before loading them into bags in front of shocked shoppers
A customer at the store in Barnet tells one of the men ‘you need to stop’. He replies ‘yeah, I’m going innit’ as he continues stripping shelves with no attempt to hide what he is doing
Professor Joshua Bamfield Director, Centre for Retail Research, said the rise of shoplifting was being driven by the perception that it was a risk-free crime.
He told MailOnline: ‘At one time, shoplifting used to be a sort of craft where people didn’t want to get caught because they knew they’d be trouble, but now people don’t even bother because there’s a perception nothing much will happen to you.
‘A lot of retail crime now is organised, with people stealing large quantities of products like alcohol, meat and designer clothes. They are linked to other criminals who sell it on elsewhere.
‘The fact thefts below £200 are not pursued and there are a lot of demands on officers mean retailers have found it very difficult to get the kind of support they require.
‘Meanwhile, managers have become increasingly concerned about the violence that apprehending shoplifters can involve so are telling their employees not to risk it.
‘So you’ve got two issues – shoplifting being partly decriminalised and the fact the police are too busy, then retailers telling shop staff not to intervene.
Professor Bamfield suggested the latest police figures may actually underplay the seriousness of the situation due to underreporting.
‘Shops are rationing their use of police, which means offences are going unreported,’ he said. ‘I spoke to one retailer who said police had told them only to report two shoplifting offences a day because they don’t have enough time.’
The retail expert suggested the only way to tackle the epidemic was to make it a priority for law enforcement.
‘Shoplifting is often an individual’s way to becoming a serious criminal so if you stop them at 15 or 16 that may get them off that path,’ he said.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said the data illustrated the ‘disgraceful dereliction’ of the previous government on law and order, as Labour vowed to tackle low-level shoplifting and make assaulting a shopworker a specific criminal offence.
Separate data from the Association of Convenience Stores (ACS) estimates retailers have recorded more than 5.6million incidents of theft over the last year.
Last week a shoplifter emptied the shelves of a Greggs store in south east London into a giant holdall
This footage, filmed on Sunday, shows a brave Poundland employee grappling with a shoplifter in a store at Westway Cross Shopping Park in Greenford
Phone footage from last month shows young shoplifters battling past staff to steal trainers from a Nike shop in the shadows of Wembley Stadium
The Mail on Sunday revealed last week that as few as 12 gangs are behind a quarter of all shoplifting in England and Wales. Some foreign offenders working for the gangs are flying in to steal and flee the same day on budget flights.
ACS chief executive James Lowman said the gangs committing the majority of these crimes were typically organised, stealing to fund other criminal activity or substance abuse.
‘They are often stealing to order, targeting higher value items to sell on to normal people who are struggling with the cost of living,’ he added.
‘These thieves are stealing on a regular basis without fear of apprehension, so it’s essential that every police force in the country takes theft seriously, not least because challenging thieves is one of the biggest triggers for abuse of shopworkers.’
The move to create a separate offence follows a long-running campaign from business owners and Conservative backbencher Matt Vickers amid rising violence against retail workers.
Just 17 per cent of the 417,582 shoplifting offences recorded in 2023/23 that were assigned an outcome resulted in a charge or summons.
And 58 per cent of investigations closed with no suspect identified, up from 55 per cent the previous year, according to Home Office data.
Superintendent Andy Sidebotham, from the College of Policing, said forces now prioritise attending thefts when an offender has been detained by store staff, where violence has been used or when evidence such as CCTV is available.
‘We recognise shoplifting is of major public concern, and that’s why we’ve boosted our guidance, provided additional support, and are clear on the investigative standards expected. There is more to do, and we will continue to focus attention on this crime,’ he added.
A taskforce, known as Project Pegasus, has sifted through thousands of hours of CCTV and bodycam footage, as well as testimonies from staff to create a ‘shoplifting map’.
After two months of analysis, including use of facial recognition software, the taskforce discovered that the crime wave is being turbo-charged by as few as 12 gangs.
Shops have resorted to desperate measures in a bid to deter shoplifters. Pictured is a security-protected bar of Dairy Milk Wholenut at a Co-op in Codsall in Staffordshire
A Tesco branch in Theydon Bois, Essex, has even slapped security tags on shopping baskets
At least 35 individuals have so far been flagged up as prolific shoplifters.
Shop bosses have also pointed the finger at regular shoppers feeling ‘entitled’ to steal from stores because they are regulars.
Richard Fowler, who manages security at upmarket health food brand Planet Organic, said shoplifting at the Chiswick branch takes place ‘every day’ – and that ‘posh totty’ types were part of the problem.
He claimed the brand loses a staggering £900,000 a year as a result of stealing. The chain has nine stores across London and claims all the products it sells are organic.
Speaking to the BBC, Mr Fowler said: ‘We’ve got our homeless… Then we have what I would call the posh totty people.
‘They shop in Planet Organic on a daily basis, they spend a lot of money with our business.
‘[They think] ”Today I’m a little bit short of money, so I’m entitled to steal something”.’
The ONS crime figures, released yesterday, also show that the number of theft from a person offences was up 17 per cent from 112,225 to 131,453 in 12 months.
The number of robberies rose by eight per cent to 81,019, though this remains below pre-pandemic levels, with 90,198 offences recorded in the year to March 2020.
The amount of knife crime offences recorded by forces in England and Wales also rose by four per cent, to 50,510, but this too remains below pre-pandemic levels.
This week Richard Fowler, who manages security at Planet Organic, said shoplifting at the Chiswick branch takes place ‘every day’
Brazen middle class customers feel ‘entitled’ to steal from Planet Organic because they are regulars, Mr Fowler claimed
And there was a 13 per cent increase in the number of robberies involving a knife, with 21,226 recorded.
Ms Cooper said: ‘We can’t carry on like this. This Labour Government will put neighbourhood police back on the beat in our town centres, with stronger laws on knife crime, shoplifting and assaults on shop workers to keep our communities safe.
‘Labour has set an unprecedented mission to halve serious violence in ten years and to restore confidence in policing and the criminal justice system.
‘We will be a Government of law and order that puts the safety and security of our communities at its heart.’
