Category Archives: Shoplifting

The Guardian website investigates the so-called ‘food black market’ from Leeds, the city that has been revealed as England’s shoplifting capital

A ‘normal’ woman is seen making an illicit transaction with three balaclava-clad men, a trio of thieves who have no problem shifting their stolen wares.

An exclusive investigation by the Mirror website follows security officers as they go head to head with the ‘brazen’ thieves who are the scourge of the UK’s high streets.

With shoplifting costing British shop owners almost £1billion a year, business leaders are warning that thieves are growing more confident than ever.

According to the BBC News website, hundreds of vulnerable women and children are being trafficked to the UK to shoplift for Eastern European criminal groups.

One company in Scotland has identified a gang with 154 shoplifters stealing high-value items in bulk to sell or ship abroad.

The Belfast Telegraph reported that a local man has admitted to stealing more than £3,000 of Lego during a three-month shoplifting spree.

In 11 separate incidents, Peter Stewart stole the popular children’s toy from a range of shops including Tesco, B&M and Smyths Toys Superstores.

In a comment piece in the Guardian, a lack of real-life service at store checkouts has helped fuel the current shoplifting crisis, even amongst the middle classes.

The M&S chairman has said, “With the reduction of service you get in a lot of shops, a lot of people think: ‘This didn’t scan properly, 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.’”

In an interesting piece on the BBC News website, a security guard who caught the mother of a hungry child stealing food, has said he found himself in the middle of a “heartbreaking” situation.

Sam Canning told how he encountered a woman whose son was crying and hungry, so she stole some hot food.