Just 20% of shoplifters are being prosecuted

SHOPLIFTERS have free rein in soft-touch Scotland as shock new figures show just a tiny proportion of incidents result in a prosecution.

- By Douglas Dickie

According to official Scottish Government figures, out of 183,486 shoplifting crimes recorded by Police Scotland, less than 80,000 were reported to the procurator fiscal from 2019-2024.

And only 37,299 charges were proceeded to Scottish courts - just 20%.

That figure is declining year-on-year, with 8,601 charges laid before courts in 2022, the last full year the information was available, compared with 12,104 in 2019.