Northampton police officers take down suspected shoplifter
- Patrolling officers pounced on an alleged shoplifter as he walked out of Next
Published: 19:22, 19 December 2023 | Updated: 19:26, 19 December 2023
Policing Minister Chris Philp saw a suspected shoplifter detained by police this afternoon – as he toured a shopping centre to speak to shop workers about the issue.
On a visit to Northampton, Mr Philp met officers working on the local constabulary’s annual Operation Lapland campaign, which tackles crimes such as shoplifting, theft, burglary and vehicle crime[2] which tend to rise at this time of year.
But as the minister walked around the Grosvenor Shopping Centre with the officers, one of two pairs of additional officers seen patrolling the mall pounced on an alleged shoplifter as he walked out of Next.
Mr Philp said the incident highlighted the value of regular police patrols in shoplifting hotspots – something the Government has committed GBP60m of funding towards from next April – as he backed the Mail on Sunday’s campaign for stiffer action to be taken against shoplifting.
The MP for Croydon South told the Mail the Government’s new Retail Crime Action Plan (RCAP) wanted to go beyond simply seeing more shoplifters face charges, adding: ‘I want to go a lot further than that…You’re right in your campaign. I want to have a zero-tolerance approach to shoplifting.’
Minister for Crime, Policing and Fire Chris Philip MP watches as a hapless suspect shoplifter is arrested by police at the Grosvenor Shopping centre in Northampton
On a visit to Northampton, Mr Philp met officers working on the local constabulary’s annual Operation Lapland campaign
But as the minister walked around the Grosvenor Shopping Centre with the officers, one of two pairs of additional officers seen patrolling the mall pounced on an alleged shoplifter as he walked out of Next
Mr Philp had spoken to a shop worker in Primark and Boots store manager Colin Ford about the scourge of shoplifting during the visit.
But Mr Ford later told the Mail that the visit was the first time he had seen police in the shopping centre ‘in months’.
He said his store lost thousands of pounds worth of stock a week due to shoplifting. The issue is more prevalent at this time of year due to increased footfall in stores which makes it harder to monitor potential offenders, and stock of higher value being stocked, such as gift box sets, which attracted more shoplifters.
‘Thieves are also becoming more organised’, he said. ‘We are seeing more bulk thefts as well, and on a much larger scale.
‘They come prepared with large bags from places like Sports Direct, and take stuff well in excess of what could be for personal use.’
Shopper Lorraine Crook, 60, said shoplifting was ‘rife’ in Northampton, adding: ‘Only last Sunday I saw two teenage girls taking false nails out of boxes in Savers.
The brave manager saw them and intervened and they handed them back.’
The Mail On Sunday campaign demands tougher penalties for shoplifters – and abuse or violence towards shop staff made a specific offence.
The police had been accused of decriminalising shoplifting after legislation introduced in 2014 which allowed officers to close low-level cases with a fine rather than investigate them.
But Mr Philp said the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 creates a statutory aggravating factor which must be considered by the courts when an assault offence has been committed against those who provide a public service, perform a public duty, or provide a service to the public – such as a shop worker.
Mr Philp said the incident highlighted the value of regular police patrols in shoplifting hotspots
But Mr Ford later told the Mail that the visit was the first time he had seen police in the shopping centre ‘in months’
Mr Philip talking to locals in the shopping centre
Northampton police talking to Mr Philip about crime in the area
Mr Philip posing with a police officer outside the shopping centre in Northampton
He said this means ‘a judge is legally obliged to pass a heavier sentence’.
The British Retail Consortium estimates shoplifting costs the British High Street nearly GBP1 billion per year, but police have been accused of decriminalising shoplifting after legislation introduced in 2014 allowed officers to close low-level cases with a fine rather than investigate them.
The new RCAP, which was commissioned by Mr Philp, includes a commitment that police forces will attend incidents where the offender is detained, or where violence has been inflicted on a shopworker.
The plan, which was launched in October, includes the creation of a new police team to build a comprehensive intelligence picture of the organised crime gangs that fuel many shoplifting incidents, and promotes the increased use of facial recognition technology to identify suspected offenders.
Northamptonshire Police later said in relation to the shoplifting offence that a 44-year-old man of no fixed abode had been arrested on suspicion of theft from Next, Superdry and Home Bargains.
Mr Philp was also accompanied yesterday by Stephen Mold, the scandal-hit police and crime commissioner for Northamptonshire, who attracted controversy earlier this year over the appointment of a woman to lead the county’s fire service, even though she had zero experience.
Five separate sources told the Mail on Sunday that Nicci Marzec, 51, was the commissioner’s lover, but Mr Mold insisted she was just a ‘really good friend’.
Ms Marzec after the widespread criticism of her appointment, but the Mail on Sunday then revealed she had landed a top job at a taxpayer-funded firm where Mr Mold is chairman.