A shopkeeper claims he has carried out more than 50 citizen’s arrests on thieves in the past two years.
Martin Gaunt said he has been left with no choice as he tries to protect his gift shop, Happy Piranha, in Truro, Cornwall. The 62-year-old said he doesn’t have “proper” support from the police.
He has confronted criminals inside and outside his shop, telling them he has the right to detain them until police arrive. In all, he has three shops across the town, in which he has installed 12 CCTV cameras.
“We are now at a stage where our streets are becoming dangerous because we are not tackling the problem at grassroots level,” he said.
“The shoplifting that I want to prevent isn’t because I am worried about losing a £20 teddy bear. The issue is how it affects the whole social fabric of the town and the community.
“In a town like Truro we will lose at least £1m a year – if not £2m or more – in theft. And that is all going to stimulate crime.”
Shoplifting in England and Wales is at a 20-year high.
A total 469,788 offences were logged by police forces in the year to June: up 29% on the previous 12 months. In Devon and Cornwall, the rise was 37%.
Watch: ‘We need help’: Workers say shoplifting is ‘out of control’ after surge in brazen thefts
Gaunt says he uses his powers of arrest under Section 24A of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984.
He describes his approach to conducting citizen’s arrests as standing in the way, maintaining close contact without touching them, and if necessary pulling their bag.
If they attempt to escape he then gets in front of the suspect. At that point he decides if he can hold them by the arm.
He said: “We don’t want to get hurt. Does it cause me anxiety and stress? Yes it does. Could I avoid it by not approaching the shoplifters? Yes I could. But what will happen to the community?
“I had one situation where I had a visit from a chief inspector because I had been complaining to our police commissioner. Whilst he was here we were robbed, and we managed to get him to help us with that one.
“The person that we stopped had recently been released from prison and was carrying knuckledusters, had large amounts of cash on them and prescription drugs unboxed.”
A CCTV still of Martin Gaunt, centre, confronting shoplifters outside his store in Truro, Cornwall. (SWNS)
Gaunt said shoplifters tend to be people with drug and alcohol addictions.
He said: “They will steal products, walk it 10 minutes down the road, sell it to the market trader and that market trader will give them cash for the product.
“They take that money and then they go and buy their next hit. That becomes like a cash machine for them… that then attracts all of the detritus that comes with drug dealing.”
Since using citizen’s arrests, Gaunt said thefts have fallen 90%.
“The reason is they realise, coming into our store, we will stop them. We will try to detain them and try to get the police involved.”
However, Gaunt said there is “no support” from the force. He claimed he wrote to the Home Office after his local inspector “refused” to acknowledge citizens’ arrests as a tool.
He said: “I got a letter from them confirming that [for] civil arrests, whilst strictly speaking are for indictable offences only, there is an additional clause which also brings into that category: low-level shoplifting. “
He went on: “If you relate [shoplifting] to speeding offences, people are afraid of them because there are cameras, fines, penalties on your licence. At the moment there seems to be nothing to deter people from shoplifting and because of that we got an epidemic.
“If there is no liability, no consequence, people don’t think it is a crime.”
Devon and Cornwall Police said it was committed to working with retailers, with officers deployed based on threat, risk and harm.
The new government has vowed to tackle low-level shoplifting, as well as make assaulting a shop worker a specific criminal offence. Measures will be introduced as part of the Crime and Policing Bill, but this has yet to come before parliament.
What is a citizen’s arrest?
According to the Ask the Police resource, “this area of law is very complex”.
But it advises: “The law states that any person can arrest a person who is in the act of committing an indictable offence… to prevent the person in question causing physical injury to himself or any other person; suffering physical injury; causing loss of or damage to property; or making off before a constable can assume responsibility for him”.
Indictable offences are in the most serious category and can only be dealt with in crown courts. This would not tend to include shoplifting.
But Sentencing Council guidelines say: “A security guard can make a citizen’s arrest if someone is caught in the act of shoplifting and it is not reasonably practical for a police officer to make the arrest instead, for example if the person shoplifting were to run away before a police officer could arrive.
“Security guards are allowed to use ‘reasonable’ force to detain shoplifters under the Criminal Law Act 1967.”
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