Shoplifting...

Soldato
Joined
8 Mar 2005
Posts
9,173
Ok so i'm in Reading at the moment, went shopping with a friend. Just after I finished paying for some clothes, we walked out of the shop and the security alarms went off..

The sales assistant called me back but realised it wasn't my bag, they called my friend back even tho she didn't buy anything from them. Turns out there was a pair of trousers in her other shopping bag that wasn't supposed to be in there :eek:

The assistant took her to the back and said I might as well go home as she still needs to be spoken to by the police. She had to switch her phone off so I can't contact her.

What happens when someone is caught shoplifting? Should I wait or should I go? I've waited an hour already in my car and I live 40mins away.. I don't want to leave in case she gets let off and I want to be there for her rather than having to let her mum know so she could pick her up. What to do, what to do :(
 
Guess all you can is wait for her..depending on how good a friend she is...could be awhile though.
 
Shops like to make a point.
Police will be called and she will almost certainly be taken to the police station.
As long as this is a first time offence she'll probably just get a caution.
But it will take a while to complete all the paperwork.
 
Text her telling her to ring you when her phones on. If she doesn't ring you soon then go home.
Why would someone steal something, then stay there to be arrested when they're caught?
If you're going to steal something, you might as well run if you're caught.
 
Police won't do anything. If she's unlucky she'll be taken down to police station - otherwise they'll have a quick word and let her go if she doesn't have a record. Pathetic policing system for the win!
 
She had to switch her phone off so I can't contact her.

Why did she turn her phone off? Because some 19 year old shop assistant told her to? While I don't condone shoplifting you don't take orders from shop assistants. Just walk away and don't go back there for a long time.
 
Just walk away and don't go back there for a long time.

Pfft.

Go back there every day, just look around the shop for a while then walk out nonchalantly.
The shop assistants should be super paranoid and stop her every time, then she can get all indignant on them.


Also if she was silly enough to shoplift/shoplift AND get caught, then probably serves her right, go home.
 
Go home. If by this point in her life she didn't realize walking out with cloths with tags from a shop that has security installations by the entrance (it's not like both are invisible) will get her in trouble, then she's a lost cause. And there is no upside to this story. On one hand if she succeeded she would be a common thief. On the other the fact she failed means she's a common thief with very little skill and flat learning curve of very basic things in life. In either case, you don't want that around you.
 
Pfft.

Go back there every day, just look around the shop for a while then walk out nonchalantly.
The shop assistants should be super paranoid and stop her every time, then she can get all indignant on them.

I like the way you think!

Also if she was silly enough to shoplift/shoplift AND get caught, then probably serves her right, go home.

AND go back into the shop, admit guilt and probably hand over her name, address and other personal information to someone with no real authority...
 
When I was working security (Tesco) a little lad only 14 was caught putting chewing gum and a Mars bar in his bag.

Police came and talked to him for like and hour and a half, got a warning because of other offensives against him and he's banned from the store for life now that is store policy as well. Stores like to make examples out of everyone.
 
Your friend is a moron. Surely she must know what those tags are for?

Assuming she isn't like 12 or something, the police will probably arrest her and caution her/fine her.
 
I dont think it had the big plastic security tag, it was just one of those stickers that had to be torn to deactivate the security.
She didn't walk back into the shop by choice, the assistant asked her to. And if she said no then that would be obvious. She was prob hoping that they wouldn't look in her bags as she didn't buy anything from them and I did.

I dont believe she's done anything like this before, but her hands were shaking really badly when she was caught, don't know if it was because of guilt or shock. The trousers were her size as well.. I think I might wait another 30 mins to make it 2hrs then i'm gona head off home..

I saw a security guy go into the shop, he must've told her to switch her phone off. My friend was probably too scared and just did as she was told.
 
It's a discretionary thing.
She might get off, she might get arrested, fined etc.

I know a lad who many years ago tried to nick hundreds of pounds worth of booze, got caught, got let off and left with 1 bottle stuffed in his sock still.
But I also know a lad who tried to nick a sandwich and got a £120 fine.

I'd probably have made a point, people trying to nick clothes is one of those things which really annoys me on security. Because the people who nick clothes usually have their kids with them disgustingly enough.
 
My sister stupidly got caught shoplifting when she was 15 and so did her mate at the same time, both got caught at the door with un-paid make up. They both got called back to the office by the store's manager and the police were informed first and then I got a call on my mobile by the store's manager as they attempted to contact my mum first but were unable to get hold of her.

Both were arrested by the police & Mum finally met my sister at the police station where my sister and her mate only got a caution as this was her first offence and they both had there finger prints taken (to my mum's objection, but apparently this was the normal procedure then). As suprised that I thought she was not that immature to do shop lifting, I don't think she has done it again ever since she got caught.

Liam
 
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