Shield our shopkeepers

Assaulting staff to be made a specific offence

RISHI Sunak today vows to ‘stop shoplifters in their tracks’ with a tough package of measures. In response to an epidemic of violent thefts, assaulting a shop worker will be made a specific offence for the first time, the Prime Minister says.

Prolific shoplifters will also be fitted with GPS satellite electronic tags so their movements can be tracked.

Mr Sunak, writing exclusively in the Daily Mail, says: ‘Fundamentally, something has gone wrong when people think they can wander into their local shop and just pick up whatever they want without paying.

‘We’ll tackle this head-on. And together, with the police and retailers, we’ll stop the shoplifters in their tracks.’

The latest crime data showed a 32 per cent surge in shoplifting, costing the sector more than £3billion a year.

Home Secretary James Cleverly said assaulting retail staff will be made a specific criminal offence.

It will carry up to six months’ imprisonment, or an unlimited

fine, and a ban on returning to the shop where the crime took place.

Thieves caught shoplifting three times, or who assault staff on three occasions, could be forced to wear a GPS tag. The Government will invest £55million in facial recognition technology for police over the next four years, including £4million on ‘mobile units’ on the street to identify criminals through CCTV. ‘Units will take live footage of crowds... comparing images to specific people wanted by the police or banned from that location,’ a Home Office spokesman said.

‘Police in the area will then be alerted so they can track down these offenders.’