Shoplifting in England and Wales has reached record levels, with 530,643 offences recorded from March 2024 to March 2025, a 20% increase from the previous year and the highest since current recording began in 2003. While media often portray shoplifters as either struggling parents or hardened criminals, the reality is more complex, according to social policy researcher Emily Kenway.
The Faces Behind the Statistics
Kenway interviewed habitual shoplifters for her research on how chronically homeless individuals generate income. One subject, Ryan*, a 25-year-old, steals high-value items like designer garments and speakers from large department stores about four times a week, reselling them for profit. He stays clean and tidy, avoids detection, and limits thefts to one or two items per trip. Another, Paul, 38, steals alcohol, meat, or cheese, and once spotted an unattended hairdressing salon, planning to steal chairs for resale. Patrick, 31, steals alcohol for personal consumption and sells litre bottles to local shops at half price.
These career thieves are not stealing for survival but to fund drug and alcohol dependencies. Kenway argues that focusing only on sympathetic cases, such as parents stealing nappies, overlooks the broader picture. While national data on motivations is lacking, research indicates that reselling stolen goods is a common income strategy in the street economy.
Breaking the Victim-Offender Binary
Kenway criticises the tendency to divide shoplifters into “justified” and “wrong’uns,” a criminological fallacy known as the victim-offender binary. She notes that many offenders are also victims of institutional and societal harms. All the prolific thieves she met began life in violent homes, often with parental substance abuse, and entered the care system as children. Sexual and physical abuse were common, and they lacked formal education and conventional work experience. These factors, while not excusing their actions, significantly increase the likelihood of offending. Care leavers, for example, are ten times more likely to end up in prison.
Government Response and Its Limitations
The government plans to repeal a law perceived to grant immunity for thefts under £200, replacing it with a general theft charge carrying up to seven years in prison. However, Kenway argues this approach is unlikely to deter career thieves. Research shows that while some thieves assess risks, many believe they can outsmart security, are willing to accept jail time, or are undeterred by heightened penalties due to addiction.
Effective crime prevention requires addressing root causes. Kenway urges a nuanced understanding that includes career thieves like Ryan, whose paths to crime were shaped by trauma and systemic failures, rather than resorting to simplistic law-and-order solutions.
