Spalding Shopwatch Co-ordinator calls for change to stop shoplifting
Shoplifting is now at a record level but nothing will make a dent in the figures until the root causes are sorted, says a former town sergeant.
Spalding Pubwatch and Shopwatch co-ordinator Stuart Brotherton says addiction is the main reason why thieves are targeting the area’s stores and feels more should be done to tackle that.
He has also made repeated calls for changes in how courts sentence shoplifters and would like to see more community sentences handed out so offenders give something back to the areas impacted by their crimes.
The recent annual crime survey carried out by the British Retail Consortium reported record crime levels with losses reaching £2.2billion in 2023/24 along with violence and abuse incidents rising by 50% to more than 2,000 incidents a day. In Lincolnshire, crime statistics show a rise in shoplifting too.
Mr Brotherton feels that this issue is not going to improve without the legal system changing how it deals with shoplifters.
He said: “The volume of day-to-day shoplifting is done by a small minority of people. The underlying cause of shoplifting is drugs and alcohol addiction with no way to feed it other than stealing stuff.
“That’s the case in Spalding and Lincolnshire and I dare say in the majority of the area of this county. It’s at an all time high - I have never known anything like it.
“Until they deal with the underlying cause of drugs and alcohol, they won’t make a dent in the levels of shoplifting.
“You have to deal with the underlying cause and what to do with those repeat offenders.”
Currently, guidance issued by the Sentencing Council – which sets the punishment that courts must follow – states that a maximum term for stolen goods worth less than £200 is a six month custodial sentence. But many offenders get suspended sentences.
Mr Brotherton would like to see community sentences – in which criminals pay back their debt to society by doing unpaid work – included within the options available to magistrates.
He said the country should look at other ways to deal with serial shoplifters who have ‘repeatedly failed’ after being given opportunities to work with addiction agencies on their problems.
Mr Brotherton said: “I am a big fan of putting people in the street doing community work. At least that way you are putting something back in.
“You don’t put anything back in prison - it just makes people worse.”
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