Robberies targeting businesses soared to record high of 12,000 last year – or 33 every day – as critics warn ‘shoplifters charter’ has fuelled rise_Nhy
Robberies targeting businesses reached a record high last year with 33 every day, figures have revealed.
Office for National Statistics data showed that robbery of a business property rose by 52% inthe year to June 2024 – rising from 7,884 to 12,000 – the highest ever recorded.
An investigation conducted by Udsaw – the shop workers union – also revealed one in five retail staff members had been the victim of a violent assault last year.
And although attacks on retail workers is also up by eight per cent from 2022, not even one in ten robberies end with an assailant.
According to The Times, almost 50 per cent of business robbery investigations were concluded without police forces able to determine a suspect.
Robbery is a different crime from burglary. It is when an individual uses force or threats while stealing.
Fresh statistics indicate criminals are setting their sights on businesses over personal dwellings, with the rise of personal property robbers seeing a one per cent rise.
Shoplifting offences across Britain soared by 30 per cent in a year to the highest level in two decades.
Robberies in business reached record high last year with 33 ever day, as critics blame the Conservatives ‘shoplifters charter’ for the soaring rise (stock image)
As of the year to June 2024, there was a 52 per cent rise in business robberies, skyrocketing from 7,884 to 12,000 – the highest ever recorded, according to ONS (stock image)
Tommy Banks (pictured) appealed to the thieves to take the pies to someone in need
Tommy Banks, who owns two restaurants and a pub in North Yorkshire, posted on Instagram to say his van with 2,500 of his pies, worth £25,000, had been stolen
Almost 444,000 crimes were recorded by forces in England and Wales in the year to March, up from 342,428 in the previous 12 months.
This is the highest figure since records began in 2003, according to the Office for National Statistics.
It comes after a recent slew of criminals have targeted food businesses as the festive season approached, with Michelin-star chef Tommy Banks having £25,000 worth of mince pies stolen.
Policing minister, Dame Diana Johnson has laid blame with the Tory’s ‘shoplifter’s charter’, whilst adding that it was ‘vital’ to protect businesses during the festive season.
‘This Labour government will deliver 13,000 extra neighbourhood police as part of our plan for change,’ she told The Times.
‘We’ll tackle retail crime and assault of shop workers and scrap the Tory shoplifters’ charter.
‘This is a government committed to our mission for safer streets, for safer communities, and for a safer Britain, and we have a plan to get there.’
She alongside the government has also promised to come down on robberies targeting properties, through making it a separate offence to assault a retail worker.
It is expected that the Labour government will introduce the Policing in Crime Bill next spring.
The legislation will see the rule crack down on shoplifting, getting rid of the rule that thefts of goods of less than £200 are automatically a summary offence.
Almost 444,000 shoplifting offences were recorded by forces in England and Wales in the year to March, up from 342,428 in the previous 12 months
The relaxed thief brazenly stashed away items in his bag at the M&S store on Chancery Lane on December 23
Despite being confronted by a member of staff, the thief persists in taking items from the shelf and putting them in his duffle bag
It comes weeks after a new police unit set up to combat soaring shoplifting rates has made 93 arrests and disrupted 28 organised crime groups responsible for £4m of thefts, police leaders said.
Five Romanian shoplifters have been deported as a result of Operation Pegasus, which aims to build a national intelligence picture to combat the epidemic.
Shoplifting offences are at their highest since records began in 2003, and it is estimated that the cost to retailers is £1.8bn a year.
A total of 469,788 offences were logged by forces in the year to June 2024, an increase of 29 per cent on the 365,173 recorded in the previous 12 months.
Pegasus, which is part-funded by major retailers, receives referrals from retailers and maps out offending across the country so repeat offenders who target stores in different force areas can be tracked.
Since it launched in May, police have identified 228 repeat offenders previously unknown to law enforcement.
The team has also identified 70 vehicles being used in organised retail crime.
So far, 32 of the 93 arrested offenders have appeared in court, including the five offenders who were sent back to Romania.
Izzy Du, 26, pursued two e-bike riding thieves on foot after they grabbed her iPhone 15 Pro Max on Seven Sisters Road in Tottenham on the morning of December 17
Izzy – who has designed custom garments for stars including Katy Perry – and another man whose phone was also taken had managed to locate their devices hidden in a plastic bag in Finsbury Park along with four other stolen phones
Mobile phone thefts have also been an endemic particularly over the last year in London, where phones are often snatched from the hands of city-dwellers.
Izzy Du, 26, pursued two e-bike riding thieves on foot after they grabbed her iPhone 15 Pro Max on Seven Sisters Road in Tottenham on the morning of December 17.
After bravely catching and restraining the thug – described as a black teen aged between 16 and 20 – police arrested the man but told her he didn’t have the phone on him and they were too busy to look for it even though her Find My iPhone GPS service showed it was nearby.
But within an hour Chinese-Canadian Izzy – who has designed custom garments for stars including Katy Perry – and another man whose phone was also taken had managed to locate their devices hidden in a plastic bag in Finsbury Park along with four other stolen phones
