Shoplifter racks up her 171st conviction – but what’s fuelling UK’s theft epidemic?

This month Tanya Liddle, who has been dubbed Britain’s most prolific shoplifter, was convicted for the 171st time.

The 43-year-old has been arrested almost 400 times and is so well known among shopkeepers in Newcastle she wears an array of hats to disguise herself.

In April she was caught on CCTV donning a large floppy hat while walking out of a TK Maxx with £1,500 worth of designer bags on her arms.

She has now been banned from from all shops in the North East except a pharmacy, a supermarket and a clothes store.

Northumbria Police successfully applied for a civil injunction against Liddle at a hearing at Newcastle Civil Court last Thursday.

The force says it is the strictest order they have ever issued against a repeat offender and if she breaks the terms of the order she faces prison.

The crackdown comes as the UK continues to deal with a major shoplifting epidemic.

Last year saw 430,000 shoplifting cases were recorded across the country, according to the Office for National Statistics, the highest on record and over a third more than the previous year.

The actual figure, however, is thought to be far higher.

The British Retail Consortium, which represents most major retail chains, reported losses of £1.8bn to shoplifting between September 1 2022 and August 31 2023, up from £950m the year before.

A BRC survey also showed a 50% increase in levels of violence and abuse toward staff, with 1,300 incidents reported.

The Co-op, one of the most vocal retailers on the subject of shop lifting, recorded 330,000 incidents of shoplifting, abuse, violence and antisocial behaviour in its 2,500+ UK stores last year, a 44% increase on the year before.

So, what is driving the increase?

Speaking to the Guardian, Co-op’s director of public affairs, Paul Gerrard, believes the rise isn’t down to individuals stealing for themselves, but people ‘stealing on a large scale to resell to people struggling to make ends meet’, often due to the cost of living crisis.

Criminologist Professor Emmeline Taylor, who wrote a report for the Co-op on the impact shoplifting is having on the business, said there are three types of shoplifters.

The first ones are the organised criminals who move from county to county to steal in bulk before selling it at a cheaper price.

‘Why risk the penalties of drug trafficking when you can just go and target companies up and down the country?’ she told the Guardian.

The second are the local prolific thieves who target the same stores repeatedly and sell the products to the community they live in. Recently, she said, there has been ‘markets for really boring, mundane products’ such as laundry detergent and coffee.’

The third type she describes as the ‘Swipers’ – basically opportunists. This could be someone using a self-service till and deciding, sometimes on the spur-of-the- moment, not to put everything through.

In November, M&S chairman and former Conservative shadow minister Archie Norman said he believes this group is, at least partly, behind the recent rise.

He told the LBC podcast, Money with David Buik and Michael Wilson: ‘It’s just too easy to say it’s a cost of living problem’, and actually the culprits are impatient, entitled middle class people.

He added: ‘A lot of people go in and think, ‘Well this didn’t scan or it’s very difficult to scan these things through and I shop here all the time, it’s not my fault, I’m owed it.’

As reported in the Metro, one middle class mum admitted she shoplifted for ‘the buzz’.

She said self-service tills were the best place to steal.

‘You can also put pricier items such as salmon fillets through as onions.

‘I just walk past the security guards and smile. I do feel ashamed, but I know it’s not just me.’

Professor Jason Roach, meanwhile, a criminologist at Huddersfield University, suspects young people influenced by social media could be a big part of the spike in thefts.

He said the ‘pressure to conform and have the latest stuff is even greater than before’.

Last year dozens of young people stormed Oxford Street in central London to carry out smash-and-grab raids after allegedly organising them on TikTok.

Obviously it’s not just major retailers having to contend with shoplifters – smaller, independent businesses are targeted too.

The Independent reports that Simply Business, a small business insurer, found shoplifting is a huge concern for small business owners.

Research showed that 57% of respondents had lost more than £250 to shoplifting in the past year alone.

John Bebbington, owner of Everything One Pound, an independent budget store in Bristol, said in May: ‘Shoplifting is pretty horrific at the moment, it’s out of control completely.’

Mr Bebbington said thefts happened at least once a week and put the rise in incidents down to the cost of living crisis and the lack of criminal sanctions to act as a deterrent.

On the latter he said: ‘If you go and pinch something that you really, really want you’re not going to get into trouble, you’re not going to get a criminal record, or get arrested. There really is nothing to lose.’

In October last year, the former government launched the Retail Crime Action Plan, an initiative to cut shoplifting across the country.

The plan includes a police commitment to ‘prioritise urgently attending the scene of shoplifting instances involving violence against a shop worker, where security guards have detained an offender or where attendance is needed to secure evidence.’

It also sets out advice for retailers on how to provide the best possible evidence for police to pursue.

This includes guidance on sending CCTV footage via a digital management system so police can run it through a police national database to identify and prosecute offenders – particularly prolific or potentially dangerous individuals.

A specialist new police team, named Opal, was also set up to tackle organised shoplifting crime gangs by working closely with retailers.

In the three months leading up to August 27, the team identified more than 152 individuals linked to organised retail crime and facilitated more than 23 arrests of high harm offenders.

Assistant Chief Constable, Alex Goss, National Police Chiefs Council lead for Retail Crime said: ‘Late last year we worked with the government to develop the Retail Crime Action Plan which sets out clear guidelines for the response to retail crime, including following all reasonable lines of enquiry.

‘Police forces have embedded the plan in their operational work and we’ve already seen positive results and increased retailer confidence.’

‘This renewed focus, working alongside Opal’s highly effective intelligence work in tackling organised retail crime, is showing a marked improvement in our response, dealing robustly with offenders and supporting retailers of all sizes.’

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