Devon & Cornwall Police News site

Seven repeat offenders who are individually responsible for a total of 48 shoplifting offences in Plymouth have been charged and sentenced.

The prolific shoplifters had been targeting small local shops in the Devonport area over a three month period including over the festive season, each committing a string of offences and robbing businesses of their livelihoods. After receiving reports of the crimes, officers from Devon & Cornwall Police worked closely with the local community to tackle the issue in the area.

Working with local retailers, neighbourhood officers developed a proactive plan to identify and arrest the offenders. Patrols were stepped up to increase visibility, officers frequently showed their presence by calling into local shops, and other retailers were made aware of offenders in the area to help prevent future crimes from occurring and to prevent them from becoming victims of crime.

All seven shoplifters were arrested and have now been charged, receiving a collective total of 98 weeks of a prison or suspended sentence. Additional fines and banning notices were also imposed on the offenders, and in some of the cases the court awarded compensation to the shops affected.

Phil Strong, Neighbourhood Beat Manager who worked on the investigation said: “Retailers were frustrated and upset about the loss to their businesses, and it was important that we proactively tackled the people involved with urgent effect. I’d like to say thank you to the shop staff, store detectives, neighbourhood officers, Plymouth Against Retail Crime (PARC) and to the local investigation unit for their support. These offenders also had links with drugs and antisocial behaviour, so we’re glad to have a positive result from this investigation.

Our team will continue to engage with each of the offenders to provide them with support by signposting them to useful resources and advice with the aim of deterring them from committing future crimes.

We want to send a clear message out that stealing from shops will not be tolerated; we will be proactive in preventing this crime in our towns and cities.”

Paul Laity, Local Policing Sector Inspector for Devonport and West of the city said: “The team have worked hard alongside other departments and partners to take robust action against repeat and persistent offenders. 

I would urge all businesses in the city to please continue reporting crimes through our online reporting tool available on our website and call 999 if it is an emergency or a crime currently is taking place. Doing this also helps us to build a true picture of the crimes happening in our community, and allows us to develop a reasonable and proportionate policing approach to target the offenders.

Shoplifting is a crime that can have a large impact on our local community and businesses. As a warning to anyone that enters a shop with the view to shoplift – our officers will be doing all that they can to identify and arrest you.

And a message to our community, we are thankful for your support in this investigation, particularly the shopkeepers in helping us to identify and arrest the offenders. We are committed to putting in measures to reduce and prevent these crimes from happening.”

If you are aware of anyone actively involved in shoplifting, you can report anonymously to Crimestoppers on Tel 0800 555 111.

Photo: (Left) Police Sergeant Jamie Middleton, (Middle) Graham Kingdon Co-op Operations Manager, (Right) Police Constable Phil Strong.