Shop workers are threatened with hammers and knives as they confront thieves
Thieves have brandished hammers, knives and even hypodermic needles to steal from Iceland stores.
Boss Richard Walker said flagrant organised gangs know what they can get away with. He said: “Shoplifting is not a victimless crime. This is no longer about the petty theft. This is about serious violence against our store colleagues by shoplifters, which sadly is becoming more and more of an occurrence.
"And weapons deployed to reinforce these threats are things like knives,screwdrivers, hammers, hypodermic needles. No one should have to go through this. It’s completely unacceptable.” Each week Mr Walker receives an average of 12 reports of attacks in Iceland stores.
He believes it has become an almost “unpunishable” crime and in-store security need more powers. He said: “They’re quite flagrant, and so I think that in-store security need more powers as well to be able to act as a deterrent, because the flip side of the issue is that the police are now under resourced, underfunded, and they very rarely attend, let alone follow up.
Shoplifting is on the rise (picture posed by model) (Getty Images)“They do a brilliant job with scant resources, but the reality is over the last 10 years, prosecutions for shoplifting have gone down from I think I read 80,000 down to about 20,000. So it’s become an almost unpunishable crime.” Speaking on LBC’s Nick Ferrari at Breakfast Mr Walker also said violent incidents of theft aren’t just happening in his stores but every shop on the high street.
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He added: “This is a problem of Britain and our high streets, which are the fabric of our communities. But we have to take it really seriously. And it’s maddening because we’ve never spent more on in-store security, yet serious incidents against our staff have never been higher.”
Co-op’s campaigns and public affairs director Paul Gerrard said the number of cases of violence against staff had gone up by 25%. He also said undercover security guards are catching and apprehending shoplifters, only to be left with no choice but to let them go as police are ignoring 80% of cases.
Mirror's campaignMr Gerrard added: “In some ways it’s even worse than not intervening in the first place because they know that even if they’re caught they can still get out.” The Home Office said the Policing Minister Chris Philp has asked forces to take a zero tolerance approach to shoplifting.
A Conservative law change in 2014 downgraded the theft of goods worth less than £200 to a minor offence, which can carry up to a maximum of six months in prison but usually is punished by a £70 postal fine. The Mirror’s Clamp Down on Shoplifting is calling for police to investigate all incidents of the shoplifting. The Home Office said forces have been told to take a zero tolerance approach to the crime.
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