Shoplifting and sexual offences up in latest shocking crime update | Politics | News

Britain’s shoplifting crisis is also intensifying as career criminals and organized crime gangs continue to wreak havoc on high streets, new figures show.

Police recorded 529,994 theft offenses in the year to June, up 13% on the previous year.

Statisticians also said that there was a 5 percent increase in “theft from a person” crimes.

Data scientists at the Office for National Statistics said there had been “sharp increases in these crimes since the pandemic”.

The ONS also recorded another worrying increase in sexual offences; The number of cases filed during the year increased from 193,684 to 211,225 in June.

This was partly linked to changes introduced by the Online Safety Act, which aims to restrict revenge porn.

A staggering 72,804 rapes were recorded by officers by June.

Retailers have warned that gangs are looting stores, sweeping products off shelves, attacking and threatening staff and returning day after day.

The Express has launched the Stop Shoplifters campaign demanding government action to address the crisis and is calling on police to attend to all reports of retail theft to help reduce the crime epidemic. The cost of theft has risen to £2.2bn as retailers spend £1.8bn on their own security; “This is a cost that retailers inevitably pass on to struggling customers.”

This is a story of breaking. More to follow.