Shop owner puts up poster of ‘thief ’–and is told he’s breaking law
‘Officers were misguided’
A FURIOUS shop owner who printed 100 posters of a suspected thief was astonished when police – who have failed to catch the crook – ‘told him off’ for potentially breaking the law.
James Callaghan turned DIY detective after the man strolled into his printing shop and allegedly helped himself to a Samsung tablet while staff were distracted.
The incident was captured in clear CCTV footage, with the suspect even looking directly at the camera as he put the £250 device under his jacket.
frustrated staff reported the theft to police and put the incident on facebook in an attempt to track the man after he stole from Blue Sky Printing in Colchester, Essex.
Mr Callaghan also printed off 100 posters to be distributed among inde- pendent shops. The posters asked ‘RECOGNISE THIS MAN?’ along with four pictures of the suspect in the shop.
Two days later, the man tried to sell the tablet to a local pawnshop who took the suspect’s finger print before returning the device to Mr Callaghan.
However, despite being reunited with his device, Mr Callaghan was shocked when police turned up at his shop and accused him of breaching data protection laws by passing around images of the suspected thief.
He said: ‘ The community police officers came in and told me off. I was told “you can’t print posters like that because of data protection”. I could not believe what we were being told. It’s complete nonsense.
‘I spoke with one of the local hairdressers and she said “we’ve just been told off for putting your poster up”.
‘It’s about us taking a stand. So many businesses have been targeted by criminals yet we are made to feel like we are in the wrong.’
The theft at Blue Sky Printing took place at about 5.15pm last Thursday. The man strolled in and asked about printing costs, then waited until the shop assistant was distracted before slipping the tablet inside the front of his jacket.
He went to a nearby Game store moments after the theft where he tried to sell the device. He finally sold it to the pawn shop two days later, where staff recognised him from the CCTV image on the posters.
He has yet to be arrested, despite numerous reported sightings of him in the town centre since the incident.
Essex Police have admitted the community officers were ‘ misguided’ in their advice about data protection because Mr Callaghan is the owner of the images so is free to do as he chooses with them. A spokesman declared: ‘We would like to make it clear that only the police have the authority to fully investigate and prosecute those responsible for crime.’
Police last month encouraged shop workers to detain thieves themselves with a citizen’s arrest, prompting accusations that they were asking civilians to do their job for them.