Shoplifting in my store is so bad I’ve had to make 50 citizen’s arrests myself – it’s the only way I can get the police to turn up!_Nhy
A have-a-go-hero store owner in one of Britain’s under-siege town centres plagued by shoplifters says he has to make citizen’s arrests as the only way for police to show.
Martin Gaunt, 62, has defied potential violence – including threats of attacks with a broken bottle – to challenge prolific offenders inside his stores in Truro, Cornwall, doing so more than 50 times over the past two years alone.
He has now told MailOnline of his despair at a lack of help from police – and poured scorn on official advice today to call 999 if spotting thieves rather than intervening.
He described how taking matters in his own hands and blocking shoplifters from leaving appeared the only way he could get any officers to actually pursue offenders.
He has also installed 12 CCTV cameras across the three shops he has in the seaside town centre, with another four planned.
Mr Gaunt has raised his concerns about Britain’s shoplifting epidemic face to face with Home Secretary Yvette Cooper, when she visited during Labour’s campaign ahead of last July’s general election.
But he fears his direct action can only go so far amid a society which he says now takes breaking the law for granted – and with police ineffective in response.
Office of National Statistics figures reveal there were 469,788 incidents of shoplifting in the year to June in England and Wales – a surge of 28 per cent on 2023.
Happy Piranha store owner Martin Gaunt (centre, pictured with sons Sam and Josh) has revealed how they have carried out 50 citizen’s arrests in two years due to shoplifters
He has installed 12 CCTV cameras at his three stores in Truro, Cornwall, which have captured footage showing some of the reactions when suspected shoplifters are confronted
And in Devon and Cornwall, the rise was as much as 37 per cent – yet across the country less than a fifth of recorded shoplifting offences resulted in a charge or summons in the year to last March.
Mr Gaunt, whose toy and gift stores trade under the name Happy Piranha, uses his powers of arrest under Section 24A of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984.
He has been based in Truro for the past seven years, working alongside his three sons, and says only their own efforts have helped make a recent difference.
His approach is to try to block shoplifters from leaving the store by barring their way out, only then trying to grab hold of bags if they attempt escapes.
Yet at times a fightback from offenders has left him fearing or facing physical threats, including one prolific thief who brandished a broken bottle.
In that case, the offender was not interviewed by police for another six months and then action was dropped due to the length of time passed, Mr Gaunt says.
He became fed up with calling 999 to report shoplifters, often encouraged to dial the non-urgent 101 line instead, and not getting any on-the-scene response from officers.
Yet he found that by carrying out citizen’s arrests he could at least find police arriving to deal with a captive within about 30 or 40 minutes.
In Devon and Cornwall, the rise in reported shoplifting offences during the year to June 2024 was 37 per cent – higher than the England and Wales average of 28 per cent
Mr Gaunt told MailOnline today: ‘Our decision to do this has made a big difference – we’ve noticed a number of people we’ve stopped are no longer coming in.
‘But that’s just our store – they’ll be going elsewhere. I reckon the stock lost by businesses here across Truro will be more than £1million and that’s just us, and there’s no one visiting at this time of year.
‘This isn’t to do with the economy, or the cost of living, or people needing to feed their families – it’s to do with the fact the police have been doing nothing about the shoplifting problem for years.’
He says too many shoplifters are still avoiding prosecution even when amassing hoards of stolen goods with overall values running into four figures.
He spoke to then-Shadow Home Secretary Ms Cooper while she was on the campaign trail in Cornwall ahead of Labour’s election win on July 4 last year.
Mr Gaunt did welcome the Government’s vow to reverse the former Conservative administration’s £200-and-above threshold for prosecuting low-level shop theft.
He said: ‘I spoke to the Home Secretary and she’s aware of the situation, which is great – but we’re not using the legislation we already have, to prosecute offenders.
‘And the police don’t seem to be answerable to anybody. People no longer think it’s illegal to steal.’
Happy Piranha store owner Martin Gaunt has 12 CCTV cameras, with plans to install four more
Freedom of information requests earlier this year found that the Cleveland Police area had the highest crime rates per 1,000 people, across England and Wales
Chief Constable Amanda Blakeman, the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) lead for acquisitive crime, told the BBC they were ‘committed’ to cutting shoplifting and holding offenders to account.
She highlighted guidance in the Retail Crime Action Plan such as pursuing all ‘reasonable lines of enquiry and prioritising attendance in incidents where violence is involved or an offender has been detained’.
She also urged anyone to ‘prioritise their own safety’ and dial 999 if a crime is occurring.
Mr Gaunt dismissed her assurances, saying: ‘If you phone 999 to report a shoplifter, they’ll literally say to you: “Stop wasting our time, call 101.”
‘And that then takes a lifetime to get through and still no one comes.’
He described shoplifters’ reactions when faced with citizen’s arrest as ‘indignation more often than not’ – while will some threaten: ‘I’m going to put you down.’
Mr Gaunt added: ‘Sometimes it turns physical, although of course we want to avoid that – we’re not caped crusaders and we don’t want to get involved in trouble.
‘When I was threatened with a broken bottle, me and my three sons made our presence felt but we tried to keep our distance.
Mr Gaunt, 62, says he has faced threats of physical violence – as well as ‘indignation’ when thieves are challenging for taking items from his gift shops
July was the most common month for shoplifting offences, research has found
‘Then I later found police didn’t interview him for six months, even though he’s seen in the town every day, and he was never prosecuted for this crime. It’s ridiculous.’
He said shoplifters tended to be a mixture of young people, people with drug and alcohol addictions, and in one instance a young woman who was being run by a county lines dealer from Leicester.
After detaining her, she confided in him that the dealer had also made her smuggle firearms and perform sexual favours.
Mr Gaunt said: ‘People aren’t shoplifting in here because they’re starving.
They’re stealing any items they can sell, maybe at a local market, for cheap prices for cash which then goes on drugs.
‘All that money goes into more trouble – it goes into supporting low-level drug dealers, county lines drugs gangs.
‘I don’t want people thinking about a £20 teddy bear I’m losing – what I’m interested in, it’s time the police stepped up, learnt from past mistakes and urgently tried to do something constructive for us all going forward.’
Devon and Cornwall Police told the BBC it was committed to working with retailers and ensuring criminals faced justice, while deploying resources based on threat, risk and harm.
Mr Gaunt, whose stores trade as Happy Piranha, uses powers of arrest under Section 24A of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 – pictured is a scene caught on his CCTV
The force said: ‘We must prioritise attendance where violence is involved or a shoplifter is detained.’
MailOnline has contacted Devon and Cornwall Police for further comment.
The Home Office said the government was pursuing ‘strong action’, including getting rid of the £200 threshold and specifically criminalising assaults on retail workers.
A spokesperson also said: ‘The NPCC recommends only trained security guards detain offenders and forces will prioritise attendance at these incidents.
