More action promised after police attend fewer than one in four shoplifting incidents
The policing minister has said she wants forces “to do far more” to tackle shoplifting after figures obtained by Sky News showed fewer than one in four incidents were attended to by officers in 2023.
Dame Diana Johnson blamed declining officer numbers under the previous government but also said she wanted to “see shop theft treated seriously…and the police need to play their part”.
She was reacting to figures obtained by Sky News under the Freedom of Information Act that reveal officers turning up to fewer and fewer incidents over the last decade.
Just 22% of shoplifting incidents were attended to immediately by police in 2023, based on responses from 22 of England’s 39 police forces.
In 2016, data from 17 forces gave an attendance rate of 52% – more than twice the 2023 figure.
While in 2013, figures from 11 forces suggested an attendance rate of 72% – more than three times higher than a decade later.
Looking at just the 2013 and 2016 data sets, a clear trend of declining attendance rates is seen.
Some of the police forces who responded to our request said this was because of modern more remote investigation techniques.
Others said that while officers may not always attend crime scenes immediately, they will often follow up at a later date if there are credible lines of enquiry.
However, store owners and workers have complained that a lack of police attention towards retail crime has created an atmosphere where criminals believe they can steal with few repercussions.
Earlier this year the British Retail Consortium said violence and abuse against retail workers had risen substantially to 1,300 per day in 2022/23.
Sky News has seen CCTV showing one shop worker in south London being threatened by three people on Christmas Day 2023.
The thieves steal scratch cards and spirits and attempt to assault a cashier, who fights back with what appears to be a spanner.
Another London store owner said he used to keep a baseball bat and pepper spray behind his counter, but was told to remove them by police.
“We can’t stop them, hold them or anything… shopkeepers are so vulnerable at the moment,” said Dennis Mariyaesan.
He also accused the police of not attending shop theft incidents and not taking the crime seriously enough.
Commander Owain Richards from the Metropolitan Police said: “Our call handlers will assess each and every report and make an assessment based on available lines of enquiry.”
Read more:
Police arrest 93 gang members behind £4m thefts in shoplifting crackdown
Workers say shoplifting is ‘out of control’ after surge in brazen thefts
A retail crime action plan was published by the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) last year prioritising attendance to incidents where violence was involved or where an offender had been detained.
However, levels of shop theft have increased dramatically in recent years leading to pressure on police resources.
A spokesperson for the NPCC said: “We have made significant strides in our fight against retail crime, strengthening relationships with retailers and greatly improving information sharing which has resulted in a number of high harm offenders being brought to justice.”
Dame Diana told Sky News: “We know over the last year there’s been a 29% increase… in shop theft. That cannot go on, we need to take action and the police need to play their part.”
She also pointed to declines in officer numbers as a possible reason for the drop in attendance rates.
The police headcount fell by around 20,000 between 2010 and 2017 before rising again by 25,000 by 2023 amid a recruitment push launched under Boris Johnson.
The Labour government has pledged an additional 13,000 additional neighbourhood officers by 2029.
Sir Keir Starmer has also promised a “named, contactable police officer” in every neighbourhood and an axing of the 2014 law that means “low value” thefts of under £200 are subject to less serious punishments.
As a ban on the sale of disposable vapes comes into force on Sunday, a doctor who set up the first-ever clinic to help children stop vaping has said she has seen patients so addicted they couldn’t sleep through the night without them.
Professor Rachel Isba established the clinic at Alder Hey Hospital in Liverpool in January and has now seen several patients as young as 11 years old who are nicotine dependent.
“Some of the young people vape before they get out of bed. They are sleeping with them under their pillow,” she told Sky News.
Professor Rachel Isba set up the first-ever stop vaping clinic for children
“I’m hearing stories of some children waking up at three o’clock in the morning, thinking they can’t sleep, thinking the vape will help them get back to sleep. Whereas, actually, that’s the complete opposite of how nicotine works.”
Ms Isba said most of her patients use disposable vapes, and while some young people may use the chance to give up, others will simply move to refillable devices after the ban.
“To me, vaping feels quite a lot like the beginning of smoking. I’m not surprised, but disappointed on behalf of the children that history has repeated itself.”
A government ban on single-use vapes comes into effect from Sunday, prohibiting the sale of disposable vaping products across the UK, both online and in-store, whether or not they contain nicotine.
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) said usage among young vapers remained too high, and the ban would “put an end to their alarming rise in school playgrounds and the avalanche of rubbish flooding the nation’s streets”.
Pic: PA
Circular economy minister Mary Creagh said: “For too long, single-use vapes have blighted our streets as litter and hooked our children on nicotine. That ends today. The government calls time on these nasty devices.”
At nearby Shrewsbury House Youth Club in Everton, a group of 11 and 12-year-old girls said vape addiction is already rife among their friends.
Yasmin Dumbell said: “Every day we go out, and at least someone has a vape. I know people who started in year five. It’s constantly in their hand.”
Yasmin Dumbell says she knows students who started vaping in year five
Her friend Una Quayle said metal detectors were installed at her school to try to stop pupils bringing in vapes, and they are having special assemblies about the dangers of the devices.
But, she said, students “find ways to get around the scanners though – they hide them in their shorts and go to the bathroom and do it”.
Una Quayle says metal detectors installed at her school won’t stop students using vapes
The girls said the ban on disposables is unlikely to make a difference for their friends who are already addicted.
According to Una, they’ll “find a way to get nicotine into their system”.
As well as trying to address the rise in young people vaping, the government hopes banning single-use vapes will reduce some of the environmental impact the devices have.
Read more:
Disposable vape ban explained
Why vapes are environmentally bad
School support worker struck off over vapes boasts
Although all vapes can be recycled, only a tiny proportion are – with around eight million a week ending up in the bin or on the floor.
Pulled apart by hand
Even those that are recycled have to be pulled apart by hand, as there is currently no way to automate the process.
Scott Butler, executive director of Material Focus, a recycling non-profit group, said vapes were “some of the most environmentally wasteful, damaging, dangerous consumer products ever sold”.
His organisation worries that with new, legal models being designed to almost exactly mimic disposables in look and feel – and being sold for a similar price – people will just keep throwing them away.
He said the behaviour “is too ingrained. The general public have been told ‘vapes are disposable’. They’ve even been marketed this way. But they never were disposable”.
A ban on disposable vapes comes into force on Sunday, with a warning issued about the “life-threatening dangers” of stockpiling.
From Sunday it will be illegal for any business to sell or supply, or have in their possession for sale, all single-use or disposable vapes.
Online nicotine retailer Haypp said 82% of the 369 customers they surveyed plan to bulk purchase the vapes before they are no longer available.
But the vapes contain lithium batteries and could catch fire if not stored correctly.
A sign for customers at a Tesco store in Gerrards Cross, Buckinghamshire. Pic: PA
While more than a third (34%) of people surveyed by Haypp said they would consider buying an illegal vape after the ban, the overall number of people using disposable products has fallen from 30% to to 24% of vapers, according to Action on Smoking and Health.
Shops selling vapes are required to offer a “take back” service, where they accept vapes and vape parts that customers return for recycling – including single use products.
Read more: Everything you need to know about the ban
The Local Government Association (LGA) led the call for a ban two years ago, due to environmental and wellbeing concerns, and is warning people not to stockpile.
Cllr David Fothergill, chairman of the LGA’s Community Wellbeing Board, said: “Failing to store disposable vapes correctly could cost lives, given the significant fire risk they pose.”
How disposable vapes catch fire – or even explode
Figures obtained by the Electric Tobacconist, via Freedom of Information requests, found an increase in vape related fires – from 89 in 2020 to 399 in 2024.
Many disposable vapes use cheap, or even unregulated lithium-ion batteries, to keep the costs down. These batteries often lack proper safety features, like thermal cut offs, making them more prone to overheating and catching fire.
If the battery is damaged, or overheats in any way it can cause thermal runaway – a chain reaction where the battery’s temperature rapidly increases, causing it to overheat uncontrollably.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
2019: Vape product starts fire on US passenger plane
Read more:
Ban may not curb e-cig use
Toddler filmed vaping
Illegal vapes found in WW2 bunker
Then, once these fires start start, they are very hard to stop. Water alone can make things worse if the battery is still generating heat, so they require specialised fire suppressants to put them out.
Batteries can then re-ignite hours, or even days later, making them a persistent hazard.
Disposable vapes are a hazard for waste and litter collection and cause fires in bin lorries, even though customers have been warned not to throw them away in household waste. They are almost impossible to recycle because they are designed as one unit so the batteries cannot be separated from plastic.
Some 8.2 million units were thrown away, or recycled incorrectly, every week prior to the ban.
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) said usage among young vapers remained too high, and the ban would “put an end to their alarming rise in school playgrounds and the avalanche of rubbish flooding the nation’s streets”.
Circular economy minister Mary Creagh said: “For too long, single-use vapes have blighted our streets as litter and hooked our children on nicotine. That ends today.
“The government calls time on these nasty devices.”
‘One in five say they will return to cigarettes’
Separate research by life insurance experts at Confused.com found two in five people (37%) planned to stop vaping when the ban starts.
Nearly one in five (19%) said they would return to cigarettes once the ban comes into force.
The research was based on the answers of 500 UK adults who currently vape.
Vaping and smoking also appears to be on the rise, with Confused.com saying there was a 44% increase in the number of people declaring they smoke or vape on their life insurance policy since 2019.
Russell Brand has pleaded not guilty to rape and sexual assault charges as he appeared in court in London.
The British comedian and actor, from Hambleden in Buckinghamshire, was charged by post last month with one count each of rape, indecent assault and oral rape as well as two counts of sexual assault.
The charges relate to alleged incidents involving four separate women between 1999 and 2005.
The 49-year-old, who has been living in the US, was flanked by two officers as he pleaded not guilty to all the charges at Southwark Crown Court today.
Russell Brand appears at Southwark Crown Court. Pic: Reuters
Brand stood completely still and looked straight ahead as he delivered his pleas.
The comedian, who has consistently denied having non-consensual sex since allegations were first aired two years ago, is due to stand trial in June 2026.
Read more from Sky News
Man who sold poisonous diet pills jailed
Fraudster who sold fake Scottish tea jailed
Tom Daley on LGBT rights
Russell Brand arrives at Southwark Crown Court on Friday
He previously told his 11.2 million followers on X that he welcomed the opportunity to prove his innocence.
The allegations were first made in a joint investigation by The Sunday Times, The Times and Channel 4 Dispatches in September 2023.
As Friday’s hearing finished, Brand replaced his sunglasses before exiting the dock and calmly walking past reporters.
-
Sports3 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports1 year agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports2 years agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports2 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports4 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Environment2 years agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Environment2 years agoGame-changing Lectric XPedition launched as affordable electric cargo bike
-
Business3 years agoBank of England’s extraordinary response to government policy is almost unthinkable | Ed Conway