New data has revealed that under Labour's 'soft justice' reforms, only 0.3 per cent of shoplifters sentenced each year will end up behind bars. The figures, uncovered by the Conservatives, indicate that thousands of shoplifters annually will avoid jail due to sentencing changes that came into force last month.
This revelation comes just days after Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer boasted of early signs that the post-pandemic shoplifting epidemic appeared to be ending. The Tories have predicted that the Government's criminal justice reforms will actually exacerbate retail theft, dubbing them 'a shoplifters' charter'.
Details of the Reforms
Labour's reforms strongly discourage judges from imposing jail terms of less than 12 months, requiring them instead to impose a suspended sentence unless there are 'exceptional circumstances'. Official government data shows that in the year to September, only 144 shoplifters—a mere 0.3 per cent of the 46,300 total sentenced—received prison terms of more than 12 months. During the same period, 12,590 shop thieves were handed custodial sentences of less than 12 months, meaning they can now expect a suspended sentence under the new changes.
The Conservatives based their research on the assumption that similar sentencing patterns will continue. Shadow Justice Secretary Nick Timothy commented: 'Labour have written a shoplifters' charter where virtually all shoplifters will avoid custody and avoid facing consequences for their crimes. It is weak and irresponsible. We should be locking up more people for longer, not making it easier for them to avoid prison altogether.'
Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp added: 'Shoplifting is a scourge. Shelves are being cleared in plain sight because criminals know there is no consequence. Under Labour's plans only 144 shoplifters will go to prison each year—when there are 519,000 shoplifting crimes. With no prison for shoplifters, it will surge even more under Labour.' He further stated: 'Only the Conservatives have a plan to fix this. We will put 10,000 more officers on the streets, restore visible policing, back officers to act decisively, and ensure that crime and anti-social behaviour face real consequences.'
Government Response
In a speech to shopworkers' union USDAW on Monday, the Prime Minister highlighted a 17 per cent rise in the number of shoplifters charged and a slight fall in shoplifting incidents recorded by police. Official crime figures published last week showed recorded shoplifting offences dipped by one per cent to 509,566 incidents in England and Wales last year, after climbing significantly every year since Covid. 'In the latest stats shop theft is down. It's only slightly down, but the tide could be turning,' Sir Keir said.
Labour's Sentencing Act, which blocks the use of most jail sentences of less than 12 months, came into force on March 22. The average jail term handed to shoplifters in the year to September was just 2.4 months.
Justice Secretary David Lammy responded: 'The Conservatives are utterly shameless. The 46,000 shoplifting sentences the Tories are complaining about are at the highest level since 2017, while the 144 getting more than 12 months custodial sentence is higher than in any of the last eight years of Tory Government. It was the last Conservative Government that introduced the £200 threshold, effectively decriminalising thefts from shops. This Labour Government is tackling this scourge head-on by putting an extra 3,000 neighbourhood police officers on the streets, as well as scrapping the Tories' effective immunity for thieves stealing goods worth less than £200.'
Retailer Concerns
Despite the slight fall in recorded offences, retailers insist the shoplifting crime wave is far from over and have described how stores have given up reporting every incident to police. Lucy Whing of the British Retail Consortium said last week that their own figures indicated the true number of incidents was 5.5 million last year. Jason Tarry, chairman of high street giant John Lewis, said shoplifting had hit the worst levels he had seen 'in my 35 years in retail'. He wrote in The Telegraph: 'These are clear signals that legislators are willing to stand shoulder to shoulder with retailers to tackle the problem, but we all know that more is needed to make a difference.' He urged the courts to 'more consistently use the sentencing tools available to them to bring criminals to justice and help their rehabilitation'.
