‘I caught a brazen shoplifter stealing beer – he didn’t even get punished’

The owner of a shop that drives back a sarcastic thief to his store, said the man’s punishment sent the wrong signal to other potential criminals.

The shop opened a box of Foster’s beer, while the core in Durham, without paying a chest of 10 pounds.

However, the store owner Andrew Board, who caught him and brought him back to the entrance, was stopped.

Despite Mr. Board’s brave actions, the officers in Durham Constabulary did not take the issue to court after finding the suspect who accepted the crime.

Instead, it was handled through a community solution used for small crimes or antisocial behavior events and does not result in a criminal conviction.

Under the solution, he paid back the money for the guilty beer and was later banned from entering the shop.

Open picture in the gallery

“This is a wrong signal and the problem, Mr. Mr. Board said. “A person knows that they can play as they wish later, and if they get caught, then they will have to pay the goods.

“In this case, there was no penalty to try to steal the goods. He could have escaped without paying, but when I caught it, only payment was made for it. There is no deterrent in the legal sense.”

Mr. Board said he was dealing with a few thefts in his store every week.

As a result of theft, more than one citizen had to arrest and develop the CCTV system in the shop.

For criminals such as Lurpak Oil, 20-Can Budweiser packages and large comfort softener, it was necessary to remove it from the shelves.

Mr. Board reflects a national problem with the theft of theft, the police received a record number of reports for store theft last year.

However, most of the reported crimes do not lead to punishment.

Home Office Data analyzed by Independent Only 18 percent of theft reports caused the court to be accused or called to the court at 2023/24 in England and Wales.

In more than half (56 percent), the police could not define the suspect and the case fell.

Last year, 27 percent of those who were sentenced to theft in the British and Wales in the British and Wales received custody.

Due to the duration of suing the court, Mr. Board said the community decision given to the criminal decision was probably the best option to get the money back quickly ”.

But he added: “This should not be like this. We must get our money back quickly and be punished.”

Last week, Interior Minister Yette Cooper announced that extra officers will be deployed on the streets of 500 towns in a summer edition of shops and antisocial behaviors.

He said: “Residents and businesses have the right to feel safe in their towns. However, the last government left an increase in shop theft, street crime and anti-social behavior, which made too many city center feel abandoned.

“It’s time to return this tour, so I called on the police forces and councils to work together to deliver a summer lightning in the crime of a city center to send a clear message to the city center that their crimes will no longer be guilty.”

A Durham Constabulary spokesman said: uz We take this kind of discomfort extremely seriously and we are working hard to deal with the problem in our field of strength.

“Most of the crimes are opportunistic and opportunistic people with drugs or alcohol addiction. Therefore, as a force, we should look at the greater picture and find out why individuals are accused of being accused in the first place and try to deal with the reasons underlying their crimes.”