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104 Shoplifters Commit 4,389 London Thefts
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Not a single shoplifter was jailed before their 31st offence
Scotland Yard and the British Retail Consortium have written to Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood and Justice Secretary David Lammy demanding faster sentencing for repeat shoplifters. Met Police figures show just 104 prolific offenders committed 4,389 shop thefts in London over the past two financial years.
That group accounts for almost a third of all store thefts in the capital where a suspect was identified.
What the letter asks for
The joint letter calls for prolific offenders to be brought before the courts within around 72 hours of being charged. It also demands stronger enforcement of Criminal Behaviour Orders, known as CBOs, and a clear escalation route when offenders breach them repeatedly.
CBOs can bar a convicted thief from named stores, ban them from associating with known criminals, and require treatment for addiction or mental health problems. Breaching one carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison.
Assistant Commissioner Matt Twist said: 'I know why retailers and the public are concerned about a sense of lawlessness. I know why they're concerned about a sense that people can commit these crimes with impunity.'
The courts let them keep stealing
The Met's own data shows the scale of the problem. Of the 104 prolific offenders, 97% carried on stealing while their cases moved through the justice system. It took a minimum of 31 offences before any of them received a custodial sentence.
'What we've seen clear evidence of is that within a day or two, the same offenders are then re-offending, usually often in the same stores, time and again', Twist said.
He said sentencing an arrested and charged shoplifter currently takes 'weeks or months' because the courts are under strain.
The Bromley operation that cut theft by 80%
There is evidence the targeted approach works. One police team in south-east London obtained 11 CBOs against prolific shoplifters under Operation Kelleher, covering Orpington and Bromley. BBC News reported that shops involved saw stock losses fall by 80%.
Of the 104 prolific offenders, 97% carried on stealing while their cases moved through the justice system.
The Met says new technology, including retrospective facial recognition and evidence-upload platforms shared with retailers, has quadrupled positive outcomes in pilot areas.
Arrests rose by almost 50%, and charges and cautions for retail crime rose 123% to 5,996 in the 2025/26 financial year.
Who is asking, and who pays them
BRC chief executive Helen Dickinson, who co-signed the letter, said: 'These are not victimless crimes. They have a devastating impact on retail workers, businesses and communities.' The BRC is a trade association funded by membership subscriptions from more than 200 major retailers.
Chris Brook-Carter, chief executive of the Retail Trust, said theft and assaults 'can have a devastating impact on people's lives'.
A government spokesman said charge volumes for shop theft are up 17%, and that the Crime and Policing Act 2026 scraps the £200 threshold that meant low-value thefts were treated as minor summary offences. Ministers have not yet responded to the 72-hour sentencing demand.
