The organised shoplifting gangs turning Britain’s supermarkets into ‘battlefields’: Armed thugs are leaving staff and shoppers terrified as they target stores from Waitrose to Asda and John Lewis with up to 1,000 incidents across the UK every day
- Shocking footage showed how crime levels rocketing in UK supermarkets
These are some of the shocking moments where supermarkets have been targeted by crooks in an epidemic that has seen an average of 1,000 incidents a day.
The British Retail Consortium says shoplifting has rocketed by 26 per cent in the past year.
It is the police who many of the stores blame for the spiralling increase in the disturbing crimes – which come as families increasingly struggle amid the cost of living crisis.
One survey by the BRC says 56 per cent of retailers rated the police response as fair – with others declaring it even worse.
Every major chain has been targeted by the lawless thugs, from Waitrose to John Lewis and everyone in between.
The problem has become so serious the Home Office has ploughed funding into trying to stem the flood of illegality.
A spokesperson said: ‘Theft is down 20% compared to pre pandemic levels. However, we recognise the impact that theft can have on retailers which is why we are supporting police by providing funding for crime prevention means.
This was the moment a gang of thieves use a fleet of stolen Land Rovers including a car belonging to Richard E Grant to smash into jewellery shops, banks and petrol stations in a huge crime spree
The Co-op has released some of the CCTV footage of incidents that have plagued their stories
‘The government’s anti-social behaviour action plan, which is backed by £160 million of funding will make our communities safer by ensuring perpetrators face swift and visible justice, tougher punishments and introduce early interventions to reduce this behaviour.’
READ MORE: Violent shoplifting gangs given the ‘freedom to loot’ by lax policing has left staff living under a reign of terror from armed thugs with almost 1,000 incidents a day, store bosses warn
The Co-op say the level of ‘out-of-control crime’ saw one inner city London store ‘looted’ three times in just 24 hours.
It warned the onslaught was unsustainable and could see some communities become a no-go area for local stores.
Other stores have also spoken out against the appalling treatment of its shops and staff by mindless yobs.
The John Lewis Partnership (JLP), which owns Waitrose, said it was seeing ‘rising numbers of shoplifting offences – often by organised gangs as well as anti-social behaviour’.
Lucy Brown, director of security for JLP, said: ‘We’re seeing a real increase – some are one-off offenders but the majority are shoplifting on a regular basis, switching across all retailers.
‘They will use major transport infrastructure to hit every retailer in a particular town or city or high street.
‘We’re also seeing a rise in organised crime with groups targeting stores – they want to take high volumes and high value in one hit.’
The damage caused when a Range Rover smashed through a Tesco store in Reading
One gang carried out a crime wave in west London, Buckinghamshire, Surrey, Hampshire, Berkshire and Dorset, between 14 November 2021 and 19 August 2022. Here, they smashed a stolen Range Rover into a Co-op store in Poole, Dorset
There have been accusations that police forces fail to respond to desperate calls by the stores
The supermarket chain has not named any of the branches affected, but most are in London
The stressful scenes can be seen in the harrowing footage released by the chain in support
Today the Co-op urged police and crime commissioners to target prolific offenders and local organised criminal gangs.
A Freedom of Information request showed that police failed to respond in 71% of serious retail crimes reported.
READ MORE: Moment gang which stole fleet of Land Rovers including Richard E Grant’s smash shop-fronts in £1.8M spree
It also revealed that front-line store workers have seen physical assaults increase year-on-year by almost a third and, anti-social behaviour and verbal abuse by a fifth.
Matt Hood, Co-op Food managing director, said: ‘We know retail crime is driven by repeat and prolific offenders and, organised criminal gangs.
‘It is an ongoing challenge for all retailers, and in the worst instances can even be described as ‘looting’.
‘I have seen some horrific incidents of brazen and violent theft in our stores, where my store colleagues feel scared and threatened.
‘I see first-hand how this criminal behaviour also erodes the very fabric of our communities – it’s hard to over-emphasise how important urgent change is.
‘Co-op has invested significantly in keeping colleagues and stores safe, but we need the police to play their part.
‘Too often, forces fail to respond to desperate calls by our store teams, and criminals are operating in communities without any fear of consequences.’
Association of Convenience Stores chief executive, James Lowman, said: ‘Our members are at the sharp end, seeing crime in their communities get steadily worse.
‘Shop theft is rising because repeat offenders and organised criminals are targeting local shops to steal goods to resell.
The Co-op says it means criminals are operating in communities without any fear of police
The footage showed gangs of yobs running wild in shops unchecked by any police presence
‘This organised criminal activity exploits vulnerable people by getting them to steal to order in exchange for their next fix, funds the illegal drug trade, and harms businesses that provide essential services to communities.
READ MORE: Shoplifting epidemic that has turned Britain’s High Street stores into battlefields
‘The police have to face up to theft, violence and anti-social behaviour in and around local shops.
‘Cracking down on the criminals who account for the majority of this crime against our members would be the most effective way to make our communities safer.’
Paddy Lillis, general secretary of the shop workers union Usdaw said: ‘Evidence is mounting that retail crime is on the increase.
‘This is very concerning for our members in retail, because shoplifting is not a victimless crime.
‘Theft from shops has long been a major flashpoint for violence and abuse against shopworkers and, as the Co-op rightly says, it is often linked to organised crime gangs.’
Matt Hood, the managing director of Co-op Food, says: ‘I have seen some horrific incidents of brazen and violent theft in our stores, where my colleagues felt scared and threatened.
Closed Circuit Television in all Co-op stores mean that frightening scenes are captured on film
These yobs forced themselves behind the counter and simply took whatever they wanted
Thieves typically target store kiosk areas – which have high-value cigarettes – and alcohol aisles
‘Too often, forces fail to respond to desperate calls by our store teams, and criminals are operating in communities without any fear of consequences.’
One Co-op outlet was raided three times on the same day, while others have been hit as many as 50 times.
Staff have described armed thugs flashing screwdrivers or knives at them, and gangs smashing through doors.
Thieves typically target store kiosk areas – which have high-value cigarettes – and alcohol aisles.
However, items including meat, coffee, and even baby formula and nappies are in their sights.
The Co-op warns that the situation has become so bad, it may have to shut stores in some areas.
Yasmin, a store manager in north-west London, says: ‘One colleague collapsed recently due to the fear. I can’t help thinking, what if the worst had happened? What if they hadn’t gone home to their family that night?
‘We risked our lives working through Covid and now it feels like we are risking our lives all over again.’
The Co-op says a Freedom of Information request has revealed that, on average, the police do not respond to 71 per cent of reports of serious retail crime.
The Co-op says: ‘Criminals have ‘freedom to loot’, with rampant crime predominantly committed by repeat and prolific offenders, with drug or alcohol addicts and organised criminal gangs among the main drivers of offending.’
The British Retail Consortium (BRC) says thefts from shops rose by 26 per cent in 2022 and puts the total cost of shoplifting at nearly £1billion.
James Lowman, head of the Association of Convenience Stores, says: ‘The police have to face up to theft, violence and antisocial behaviour in and around local shops.’
He adds: ‘Shop theft is rising because repeat offenders and organised criminals are targeting local shops to steal goods to resell. They exploit vulnerable people by getting them to steal to order in exchange for their next fix.’
Conservative MP Philip Davies, who is chairman of the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Customer Service, says: ‘This patchy record of police forces uncovered by the Co-op is simply not good enough. Our frontline workers deserve far better.
‘It is no good having stricter laws in place to punish offenders if the police are not properly investigating.’
The Co-op says it does work closely with a few police forces to tackle the problem, including Nottinghamshire.
As a result, 17 prolific offenders have been jailed this year and another 13 have been given a criminal behaviour order or rehabilitation.
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