Over 50 theft charges secured as South Yorkshire Police backs new Retail Crime Action Plan

During Safer Business Action (SaBA) Week - a coordinated national week of action to target shoplifters and protect businesses from retail crime - prolific offenders were sent to jail and a total of 54 theft charges were secured.

In Doncaster last week, two shoplifters were sent to jail with Owen Stothard, 34, of Firbeck House, and John Bowman, 48, of Riviera Parade, both charged with three shop thefts each last week.

Stothard was jailed for 18 weeks, with Bowman given an eight-week prison sentence.

It comes after the city's retail crime team charged 10 men with just shy of 100 theft offences in a two-week period earlier this month.

In Sheffield, 12 people were arrested with 31 charges for shoplifting, ABH and robbery. It saw the likes of Edward Bridgewater, 40, of Colley Drive, convicted for stealing over £200 worth of meat from the same Aldi supermarket in Sheffield.

Bridgewater was a prolific thief who had already been convicted of 10 thefts this year. He was ordered to pay £208 in compensation and given a community order.

Sheffield Response Team Inspector Kay Fitzgerald said: "Bridgewater's offending was persistent and it was clear he was trying to steal high value items with no regard for the impact this would have on the company and shop workers.

"We are glad Bridgewater has been dealt with through the courts and punished for his actions and we hope his conviction serves as a timely reminder that we take these offences very seriously and will work hard to get justice for those affected by retail crime."

Another Sheffield thief - David Leadwood, 47, of Firshill Crescent - pleaded guilty to stealing over £650 worth of coats and headphones from Ryman Stationery and New Look. He admitted the offences last Thursday and will be sentenced on 9 November.

Across the week, Sheffield Neighbourhood Policing Teams engaged with over 500 members of the public with engagement visits held with managers at a number of retail stores. There were engagement stalls throughout the city and officers conducted a mixture of uniformed and plain-clothed patrols to target and process offenders.

A joint operation with Trading Standards also saw two premises failing inspections leading to a quantity of vapes and counterfeit cigarettes being seized by trading standards officers.

Op Punk, a dedicated operation using plain-clothed and uniformed officers working alongside store security to identify offenders, was rolled out in Rotherham, with engagement stalls at Rotherham Central and Tesco stores in Drummond Street and Parkgate.

It resulted in Jake Shaw, 25, of Cavendish Road, being charged with 17 theft offences. He has been remanded into custody.

In Barnsley, dedicated patrols were carried out in the town centre under Operation Lumbar Bravo and last Monday, two men were arrested on suspicion of making off without payment after a £114 bill allegedly went unpaid at a TGI Fridays restaurant in the town on Monday.

A criminal behaviour order (CBO) was also obtained against a prolific Barnsley who is now banned from entering stores in Hoyland.

Chief Inspector David Struggles, who coordinated the SaBA Week in South Yorkshire, said: "I am delighted with the results we achieved last week and it's encouraging to see prolific offenders behind bars with some swift turnarounds seen in the courts.

"Retail crime is not a victimless crime and it directly affects the livelihoods of people trying to make an honest living. Prolific offenders usually form part of an organised retail crime group and by building partnerships with businesses and shop owners, we can share crime prevention advice and intelligence on well-known shoplifters."

South Yorkshire Police is also pledging its support to the government's new Retail Crime Action Plan which was announced on Monday (23 October).

It will see police forces commit to prioritising urgently attending the scene of shoplifting offences involving violence against a shop worker, instances where security guards have detained an offender or where attendance is needed to secure evidence.

CI Struggles added: "We are fully committed to backing the government's Op Pegasus and the Retail Crime Action Plan. We have shown our dedication to tackling shoplifting through our recent results and we will continue this zero-tolerance attitude towards retail crime."