Hard truths of the shoplifting scourge

IS IT not time to dispense with the term shoplifting? There is no such offence in law. It is stealing goods from their owner, the retailer. The offence is prosecuted under the Theft Act 1968 and the maximum sentence for stealing goods under the value of £200 is six months’ imprisonment. For goods over £200 the maximum is seven years’ custody.

The problem is compounded by lack of police in our shopping centres and the lack of priority, verging on decriminalisation, afforded to the offence by the police and Crown Prosecution Service. Prison overcrowding, the closure of so many magistrates’ courts and the significant decline in the number of JPs have added to this appalling situation.

GRAHAM CHAMBERLAIN (ret’d JP), Maidenhead, Berks. WORKING for a grocery retailer, I was abused by customers every week. Once, I had to take refuge in a disabled toilet as a customer ran through the shop threatening to kill me. The retailer dealt with this by giving the customer a £50 voucher and a bouquet of flowers. When the police became involved, the retailer refused to co-operate. Scores of customers given flowers and vouchers each year no doubt thought they had a free ride to rob, abuse and assault staff, many of whom were young women or retirees earning a little bit extra. I still bear the scars of a bottle attack by a shoplifter. The police arrived but failed to collect evidence and the shop’s CCTV had long ago stopped working. Until the retailers, police and courts realise staff are as important as the stock on the shelves, little will change.

PAUL BARTLETT, Milton keynes, Bucks. IT IS said this epidemic cannot be ended because the perpetrators are difficult to catch and police don’t want to get involved. Would it be too much to ask people not to shoplift because it is wrong?

CLIVE WHICHELOW, London sw19.