Cost of living sees shoplifting soar by 75% - check crime rates in your area
Shoplifting callouts to supermarkets rose by as much as 75% last year as the cost of living crisis saw hungry Brits turn to stealing, it can be revealed.
Exclusive figures obtained by The Mirror show huge upturns in reports of people stealing food, drink and other essentials from the country’s leading chains, with almost every force in England and Wales recording an increase.
West Midlands Police saw a 70% rise in reports of customers caught pinching goods at the likes of Tesco, ASDA and the Co-op last year when compared with figures from 2021, Freedom of Information data revealed.
Other forces which saw the largest increases in supermarket shoplifters included Gwent in Wales (up by 68%), Dyfed Powys (75%) and Avon & Somerset (60%), with only four of the 43 forces asked for the data seeing shoplifting rates stay the same or fall.
Supermarkets meanwhile have been making unprecedented moves to prevent essentials from being swiped, with security measures seen on the likes of milk, fresh meat and even baby formula in recent months.
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While impossible to certify how many thefts come from desperation, the figures come as Britain's leading food bank charity, The Trussell Trust, released stark figures last month showing more than 11million Brits faced hunger last year due to not having enough money. The Trust's Chief Executive Emma Revie said the figures were just the "tip of the iceberg".
Council bosses in Tower Hamlets recently revealed the most shoplifted item in the London borough was children's medicine Calpol. A report published by the council, where more than a third (39%) are classed as living in poverty, stated: "Shoplifting of essential items and medicine has increased. Theft of essential products for babies is also on the rise."
Separate figures obtained by The Mirror's data unit also show shoplifting in general rose by 22% last year - the highest rise since 2019 - with Leeds city centre having the highest rates of people reported for pinching goods.
Baby milk with a security tag on sale at Tesco in Dorking, Surrey (Andrew Sharpe/Bav Media)Dr Sinéad Furey, an expert in the link between poverty and national security, described stealing essentials as a "coping strategy" which those struggling were resorting to.
“Unfortunately, the ones people used to rely on may not be available anymore,” Dr Furey told The Mirror.
“Previously, you might rely on friends or family, but now everybody - or at least most of us - are struggling, too.
“If you are in dire states and may have exhausted all your usual pathways, some people may just have to explore other options. Shoplifting essentials like food or medicines is not a choice.”
Last year, one of the UK’s most senior cops urged officers to “use discretion” last year when prosecuting Brits shoplifting to eat.
Andy Cooke QPM, current chief of His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabularies, said there was “no two ways about it” that the spike in food and energy prices would see crime soar.
Police boss Andy Cooke QPM urged officers to 'use discretion' when it came to prosecuting those shoplifting to eat (PA)While the figures cannot determine the precise number of people stealing to eat, a number of people prosecuted cited the cost of living crisis in courts.
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One Welsh mum admitted to stealing food from the Co-op in November last year in order to feed her children after falling into debt with her energy company, while two mums in Liverpool were spared jail after snatching more than £2,000 worth of goods from Boots to sell and feed their children.
Another woman in Port Glasgow, Inverclyde, was taken to court for stealing just £11’ worth of food from a Co-op store.
Police officers have also reported poverty as having an effect in increasing thefts. One senior Gardai source, where supermarket shoplifting reports rose by as much as 100%, said officers were “undoubtedly” seeing a spike.
“It can be sad at times, it’s often down to people stealing because they can’t afford to pay, or they’re stretched,” the senior cop told Irish Mirror. “But a crime is still a crime and we have to do our job.”
Bosses from some of the country's biggest supermarkets were recently grilled by MPs in Parliament over bumper profits despite the cost of living crisis.
Directors at Sainsbury's and Tesco faced tough questions from Labour's Darren Jones last month as they defended skyrocketing profits of £2.04billion and £864million, respectively, in the last financial year.
Despite this, shoplifting was estimated to have cost UK retailers around £660m in the year ending March 2022, according to a study by the Centre for Retail Research.
A spokeswoman for foodbank charity Feeding Britain said: “With the costs of food and other essentials continuing to rise so rapidly, people are having to deploy all sorts of coping strategies to stave off hunger.
“We have never seen so many people accessing our projects - in many cases, they have nowhere else to turn.
“Despair and desperation are tightening their grip on people’s lives.”
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