Category Archives: Shoplifting

An article featured on The Guardian website explores the booming resale market for Jellycat soft toys, with UK retailers reporting a surge in “Jellies” being stolen.

There is a flourishing secondary market for these toys – a result, in part, of the way the company releases limited-edition toys and “retires” favourites.

According to the Gloucestershire Constabulary website, a prolific shoplifter who targeted businesses across Cheltenham has been sentenced to 18 months in prison.

Emily Dixon entered Marks and Spencer as a trespasser on two occasions, and stole hundreds of pounds worth of meat, despite having had a banning order imposed.

According to the Mail Online website, two Romanian crime tourists who struck at jewellers around Europe have been jailed after they were caught in the UK.

The corrupt couple, Vadar-Ghimes and Zinca Agafitei, took ten gold chains worth £15,000 from a jeweller’s in Norfolk and another £48,000 from other locations.

The BBC News website reports how a shopkeeper turned detective to track down a shoplifter after discovering Jellycat soft toys stolen from his business for sale online.

Garden centre owner Charlie Groves watched CCTV recordings of a woman concealing the high value toys in a pram before piecing together her identity.

According to the Sky News website, a police unit launched to crack down on the surge in shoplifting has arrested 93 members of 28 organised crime gangs.

The gangs are believed to be behind more than £4m worth of thefts, specifically targeting shops and supermarkets all around the country.

The Standard website reports that London shops lost a record £15 million of items due to a shoplifting epidemic sweeping across the capital.

The spike is in line with national shoplifting figures, which show that shoplifting has risen 30 per cent since the pandemic and the ensuing cost-of-living crisis.