‘I wasn’t taking old ladies’ handbags’: Confessions of shoplifters who say prison isn’t the answer
Chris Downes’s piercing blue eyes stare out from the mugshot on a Cheshire Police news release.
He “has been causing problems within this town through shoplifting for over two decades”, it reads.
It announces a criminal behaviour order banning the 60-year-old from entering any part of his local town centre of Macclesfield and every Co-op store in Cheshire.
“I feel like I’ve been punished twice,” Chris says, once for the original offence and again with the banning order. It causes inconvenience with things like doctor’s appointments and shopping for him and his elderly mother.
Chris is one of those people we rarely hear from in all the talk about the explosion in shoplifting in Britain. He is one of that legion of shoplifters and agreed to speak to Sky News.
“Why did I do it? I did it because of a drug problem. I had no option,” he says.
“I know it’s wrong but it wasn’t hurting any individual as I see it. I wasn’t taking old ladies’ handbags, I’m not saying shoplifting is right but needs must I suppose.”
File pic
Addiction issues are a familiar feature of shoplifters’ stories. We have spoken to a number who, almost word for word, say the same as Chris Downes. They want things to be different, they say, but cannot break the cycle.
Chris describes the sensation of needing a hit as being “peeled alive” where even “your hair hurts”. Relieving that need for a hit is worth paying any price, he says. “It is an overwhelming urge.”
Chris says the feeling of needing drugs is like being ‘peeled alive’
Something else all shoplifters seem to say is that they never target small, independent shops but focus on the big high street names, as if their losses are somehow less important.
But there are other stories. “You’d be surprised who shoplifts,” says Chris. “Being a shoplifter you notice people and the signs more than security guards do and while they’re concentrating on me you’ll see a little old lady with a trolley lined with foil inside and putting bottles of whisky in. I’ve seen it very often.”
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Even shoplifters are feeling the pinch too. Chris says £100 worth of stolen goods would once net £50, now he says he’s lucky to make £20.
The responsibility of caring for his mother has given Chris an impetus to clean up his act. His career as a cabinet maker and ceramicist are just some of what has become collateral damage to 40 years of addiction.
One man who has managed to break that cycle is Cullan Mais. As we walk through a suburban shopping street in Cardiff, he ticks off a list of what he could steal and from where during his very lucrative shoplifting career. He explains in detail the modus operandi of the seasoned thief.
Cullan Mais, an ex-shoplifter, now helps others out of addiction
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‘Shoplifting was my addiction’
He shares photos of his journey: caught on a security camera going into a shop to steal, his police mugshot, a harrowing image of him clucking – that is going cold turkey on a relative’s sofa, his shirtless body marked with the scars of a fierce battle with drugs.
Bearded and healthier-looking in smart sports casualwear, he now works trying to help others make the same journey out of addiction. He remembers it well, not least the amount of money he made.
Cullan caught on a security camera going into a shop to steal
Cullan’s mugshot
“Maximum I’ve made – two or three thousand in a day. I stole millions,” he says. “When the one shopping chain caught me, they valued all the things I stole at £2.8m – and that’s just the one shopping chain.
“Of course, I never made millions, that was just the retail price.”
Addiction again was the driving force.
“Every day, without fail, you’re going to make the money you need to make,” he says. “As a drug addict you’re not going home until you’ve made what you need to make to make sure you’re okay.
“And, you know, I think as the years went on, I got greedier and greedier.”
Cullan going ‘cold turkey’ from drugs on a relative’s sofa
Even though those days are long gone, he says, like any addict, the feeling never truly goes away.
“Shoplifting to me was an addiction in itself,” he says. “It was a buzz and I loved it. Even when I kicked my addiction, it was very hard not to think about it.
“Last Christmas I was working away and the Christmas songs came on the radio and it triggered me because it reminded me of going out at Christmas time to get money.”
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He says rehabilitation rather than prison is the answer. “Prison just made me a better criminal.”
But for the police and courts, trying to tackle a problem that costs business millions every year, prison is often the only option.
Assistant Chief Constable Alex Goss, the National Police Chiefs’ Council lead for shoplifting, said: “We know retail crime has a significant impact on victims which is why we are committed to doing all we can to reduce thefts and pursue offenders, especially those prolific and habitual offenders, who cause misery within the community.”
The Russian ambassador to the UK has been summoned by the Foreign Office following attacks on Kyiv overnight.
It comes after the British Council building in the Ukrainian capital suffered major damage in Russian strikes.
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Foreign Secretary David Lammy confirmed the government had summoned Andrey Kelin in response.
Mr Kelin was seen arriving at the Foreign Office building in Whitehall today.
Russian ambassador to the UK Andrey Kelin arrives at the Foreign Office building in Whitehall
Mr Lammy posted on X: “Putin’s strikes last night killed civilians, destroyed homes and damaged buildings, including the British Council and EU Delegation in Kyiv.
“We have summoned the Russian Ambassador. The killing and destruction must stop.”
The British Council’s chief executive, Scott McDonald, said their guard for the building was injured but “stable”.
“At the insistence of my amazing colleagues, we will continue operations in Ukraine today wherever possible,” he said.
“Their resilience is awe-inspiring, and I am deeply thankful they are all safe.”
Earlier, Sir Keir Starmer said: “My thoughts are with all those affected by the senseless Russian strikes on Kyiv, which have damaged the British Council building.
“Putin is killing children and civilians, and sabotaging hopes of peace. This bloodshed must end.”
The British Council is an arms-length body from the government, and says its mission is to “support peace and prosperity by building connections, understanding and trust between people in the UK and countries worldwide”.
It facilitates schemes like working, living and learning abroad for British people.
Most of its funding comes from the fees it charges people for its services, but it does also get funding from the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO).
As well as the attack on the British Council building, Russia also targeted the EU delegation building in the Ukrainian capital overnight.
Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, told reporters two missiles hit within 50 metres of the site in 20 seconds.
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Devastation in Kyiv after deadly Russian attack
And Kaja Kallas, the EU’s foreign policy chief, said the bloc was also summoning Russia’s ambassador following the strike.
“No diplomatic mission should ever be a target,” she said.
The attacks came as part of wider strikes on Kyiv, which destroyed homes and buildings and killed at least 15 people and injured 38, according to Ukrainian officials.
Russia has said it targeted military sites and air bases in its large overnight strike on Ukraine – and that it is still interested in negotiations to meet its aims.
“The special military operation continues,” he said, referring to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, which it launched in February 2022.
“You see that strikes on Russian infrastructure facilities are also continuing, and often Russian civilian infrastructure is targeted by the Kyiv regime.”
He added: “At the same time, Russia will maintain its interest in continuing the negotiation process in order to achieve the goals we face through political and diplomatic means.”
Russia’s latest attack on Ukraine has been widely condemned, with Germany’s foreign minister Johann Wadephul saying there must be “consequences”.
“Last night we once again experienced in a terrible way how Russia attacked and bombed Kyiv, civilians died, children died, and the European Union delegation was also attacked,” he told reporters.
“And that cannot remain without consequences.”
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Mr Wadephul added that Germany wanted to show it was considering a further response and that any action would be taken jointly by the EU.
A Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office Spokesperson said: “The UK condemns in the strongest terms these outrageous attacks on Ukrainians and the damage done to the British Council and EU Delegation.
“Russia’s increasing attacks on Ukrainian civilians and cities, including Kyiv, are an escalation of the war and deeply irresponsible and are further sabotaging international peace efforts.
“We have made clear to the Russians that such actions will only harden UK and Western resolve to support Ukraine and bring an end to this unjustified war.
“Russia must stop this senseless killing and destruction immediately.”
A former Metropolitan Police volunteer has been found guilty of raping and sexually assaulting a child.
James Bubb, who now identifies as a woman named Gwyn Samuels, assaulted the victim multiple times when she was between the ages of 12 and 18.
Jurors were told Bubb, who identified as male at the time of the offences, would be referred to by their biological sex when allegations were being discussed throughout the trial.
Bubb met the victim on a video chat site in 2018, when he was around 21 and she was 12 years old. They then met in person for the first time at a Christian festival a few months later, the court was told.
The trial heard Bubb sexually assaulted the girl in public shortly before her 13th birthday, and that he was violent towards the girl when he raped her in her early teens.
Pic: Thames Valley Police
In relation to the complainant, Bubb was on Thursday found guilty of one count of raping a child under 13, one count of sexual activity with a child, one count of assault of a child under 13 by penetration, and one count of assault by penetration.
He was found not guilty of one count of rape and one count of sexual activity with a child in relation to that complainant, and found guilty of one count of rape against a second person.
The defendant made no expression as the verdicts were read out, but sobbed with their head in their hands after the foreman finished speaking.
Bubb, who is now 27, started training with the Met in 2020.
The first victim said the defendant spoke “a lot about the powers he had” in his role as a special constable.
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The second complainant was a woman Bubb met online while posing as a 16-year-old girl.
They met when the woman had just turned 18, and were in an on-off relationship between January 2018 and February 2023.
She said Bubb used “BDSM and kink as a way of creating control” over her, and that he would “use police training techniques” on her.
“The control, the power he got, it sure as hell wasn’t consensual,” she told police.
Bubb, of Chesham, Buckinghamshire, will be sentenced at a later date.
Prince Harry will return to the UK on the third anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II’s death next month for a charity awards ceremony.
The Duke of Sussex, 40, will support the WellChild children’s charity on September 8.
Prince Harry, who lives in California with his wife, Meghan Markle, 44, is a long-standing patron of the charity.
The 2025 awards mark three years to the day that Queen Elizabeth II, the duke’s grandmother, died at her home in Balmoral, Aberdeenshire.
‘Their stories remind us of the power of compassion’
Harry said in a statement: “I am always privileged to attend the WellChild Awards and meet the incredible children, families and professionals who inspire us all with their strength and spirit.
“For 20 years, these awards have highlighted the courage of young people living with complex health needs and shone a light on the devoted caregivers – family and professionals – who support them every step of the way.
“Their stories remind us of the power of compassion, connection and community.”
Prince Harry lives in California with wife Meghan Markle. Pic: Yui Mok/Pool via REUTERS
Harry is set to make a speech, present an award to an “inspirational child” aged between four and six and meet and talk with seriously ill children and their families.
He has held the role of the charity’s patron for 17 years and has attended the awards 14 times before.
The charity describes itself as the national children’s charity “making it possible for children and young people with complex medical needs to thrive at home instead of hospital, wherever possible”.
Harry was last seen in the UK in May after losing a long-running battle with the Home Office over changes to his security arrangements.
The visit is likely to fuel speculation that he will meet with his father, the King, and estranged brother, Prince William.
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