Retired cop 'furious' after being handed £130 fine for chasing shoplifter in car
A retired police officer said he has been left furious after being slapped with a £130 fine after chasing a shoplifter through the streets in his car.
Norman Brennan, 64, travelled nearly two miles before helping police arrest the thief he had tracked with his car, which he has since been fined from. Fuming ex-cop Brennan has since hit out at the "broken" justice system which fine him £130 but let the shoplifter walk free of charge.
Brennan's extracurricular efforts saw him hunt down the bloke and uncover nine bottles of expensive wine hidden in a backpack, but the man has since received a £130 fine for driving the wrong way down a one-way street.
Brennan called the fine and events leading up to it a 'complete waste of my time' (Press Association)His fine comes just a short while after policing minister Chris Philip asked members of the public to curb shoplifting through the use of citizen's arrests. The unnamed shoplifter has been neither fined nor cautioned as Brennan now finds himself rejected by the council after appealing his fine. Sainsbury's Local on Twickenham Green has decided not to press charges against the shoplifter, and Brennan has since been left appealing against London Borough of Richmond Upon Thames.
Despite the heroic actions of Brennan, the council says though he was "following an alleged shoplifter, you had no legal authority to enter this road". The 64-year-old has since fumed at the council who are making the urgent message from minister Philip an "absolute farce". Speaking to the Daily Mail, he said: "What a complete waste of my time and an absolute farce.
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"The only one being punished here is me. This was a rare situation in which everything was handed to the police and Sainsbury's on a plate – all the evidence and the culprit himself – but it still resulted in the guy walking free. Big supermarkets need to get serious about tackling shoplifting by declaring that they will take action.
"The police are in the middle of this, not really bothering because they know that on the rare occasions cases do get to court the offenders are let off with a conditional discharge or a small fine or a community order. The Government has promised a crackdown on this crime, which the police can't fulfil. It's all a big mess. The criminal justice system is broken, not fit for purpose."
The former British Transport Police detective constable retired in 2009 and has since tried upholding the law in his own time. Driving at 5mph down the one-way street and talking to operators on a hands free device, the ex-copper has said if he had not headed down the road he would have lost sight of the shoplifter. He added: "I am an advanced police driver and was extremely careful when driving – or rather crawling – down this road.
"I was staggered by the response from Richmond – cold and dispassionate and lacking any common sense. Surely they could have exercised discretion. The message seems to be that in today's Britain you can go into a supermarket and steal whatever you like, safe in the knowledge that even if caught by police you won't be punished. I've been left to spend hours appealing against this stupid fine – which has now gone up to £195."
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