Retailers across England and Wales are voicing growing frustration with what they see as an increasingly sluggish criminal justice system, particularly when it comes to prosecuting shoplifters. Recent high-profile cases, coupled with new data, paint a picture of delayed justice, repeat offending, and a system struggling to keep pace with rising crime.
Take Fiona Malone, who runs a Post Office in Tenby, Pembrokeshire. In August 2024, she watched as security cameras captured a woman, Natalie Lintern, stealing pre-mixed vodka cans, sandwiches, and cake from her store. Malone didn’t just stand by: she confronted Lintern, chased her down the street, and managed to retrieve the stolen goods before calling the police. But what came next left her exasperated. Despite catching the thief red-handed, Malone waited five months before Lintern was sentenced. "The whole criminal justice system is too slow, it’s bureaucratic," Malone told the BBC. "We need to deal with these people and deal with them quickly and think about alternative punishments to stop them doing it in the first place."
Malone’s experience is far from unique. According to figures obtained by the BBC, the average time for a shoplifting case to be processed from offence to completion in a magistrates' court in England and Wales has jumped by more than 80% over the past decade—from 32 days in 2014 to 59 days in 2024. For more serious cases heard at crown court, the wait is even longer, up from 111 days in 2016 to 128 days in 2024.
These delays aren’t just numbers on a page; they have real consequences for shopkeepers, communities, and even the offenders themselves. Malone’s case is a telling example. In January 2025, Lintern pleaded guilty to stealing from the Tenby Post Office and several other shops between April and September 2024. She received a 12-month community order. Yet, just six months later, Lintern was back in court for another theft from a service station in May 2025. This time, she was given a six-week jail sentence—suspended for one year. Malone’s frustration was palpable: "What we’re doing as a society, it’s not working. It’s like whatever punishment she got it was almost like 'Oh never mind I’ll just go out and do it again'."
The sense of futility is echoed by many in the retail sector. Andrew Goodacre, chief executive of the British Independent Retailers Association, told the BBC, "The delays in bringing perpetrators to court really does add insult to injury. It is no surprise many small shop owners simply do not bother reporting the crime in the first place. In their minds it makes no difference." The BBC’s investigation found that in one case, stores waited up to ten months for a shoplifter to be sentenced—even though retail workers had managed to identify the thief themselves, without police assistance.
Retailers like Tom Hirst, head of security at Austins department store in Newton Abbot, Devon, have grown deeply skeptical of the system’s deterrence. Hirst described the process as "unacceptable" and said, "You’re better off shoplifting than going to work, that’s my honest view." He added, "Every time someone comes in and steals something, that cost gets passed on… it puts the price up so we’re all paying."
Recent cases underscore the scale of the problem. Chelsea Strange, 33, stole £2,000 worth of Jellycat soft toys from five stores across southwest England and Wales in September and October 2024. She was eventually sentenced in July 2025 to a 12-month community order and ordered to pay nearly £1,800 in compensation. The BBC reported that shop owners themselves pieced together Strange’s identity by tracing resale websites, her car’s personalized number plate, and her Facebook profile.
But not all thefts are so modest in scale. Bianca Mirica, 20, from Tottenham, London, was sentenced to 32 months in a young offenders' institution after stealing more than £105,000 worth of goods from Boots between December 2023 and May 2024. Mirica was part of a gang that would clear shelves of cosmetics and perfumes while another member acted as a lookout. Yet, it took 14 months from her last theft before she was finally sentenced, after pleading guilty to 18 charges of theft.
Shoplifting isn’t just a headache for business owners—it’s a growing problem for society at large. The Office for National Statistics reported a 13% increase in shoplifting offences in the last year, with 529,994 incidents recorded by police in England and Wales up to June 2025. According to the Centre for Retail Research, the crime adds an estimated £133 onto the cost of an average UK household’s shopping bill each year. While the ONS now sees signs that the rate of reported shop thefts is slowing, the cumulative impact on prices, public safety, and community confidence remains significant.
The government acknowledges the severity of the issue. In a statement to the BBC, officials said they understood the "devastating impact" of shop theft on retailers and recognized that many cases were taking too long to resolve. "Justice delayed is justice denied," the government noted, adding that it is backing the courts with record funding and considering recommendations for long-term structural reform of the system.
Meanwhile, the National Police Chiefs Council says it has strengthened relationships with retailers and improved information sharing in the last two years, which has resulted in more offenders being brought to justice. Assistant Chief Constable Alex Goss told the BBC that the Council plans to bring together police, shops, and the security industry to make best use of their resources and "turn the tide on the volume of offending blighting our communities."
Yet, for many on the front lines, such as Fiona Malone and her peers, these assurances feel distant. The emotional and financial toll of theft, the bureaucratic hurdles, and the sense that shoplifters face few real consequences have left many questioning whether the current approach is fit for purpose. Calls for swifter action, alternative punishments, and more effective deterrents are growing louder, as is the demand for a justice system that keeps pace with the challenges facing today’s retailers.
The debate over how best to tackle shoplifting continues, but one thing is clear: the status quo is leaving many shopkeepers—and their communities—feeling shortchanged.
