Firm sees 'massive' rise in pensioner shoplifters

FOOD retailers have seen a “massive” increase in pensioner shoplifters over the last year, thought to be down to cost-of-living pressures a security firm has said.

- JOSIE CLARKE

John Nussbaum, director of service for retail at Kingdom Security, said his staff were seeing a “different sort of shoplifter now” as the cost of living “pushes people to something they've never done before”.

Kingdom Security, which provides security services for hundreds of stores across the country, including supermarkets, convenience stores and shopping malls, was receiving 20 to 30 reports of shoplifting a week from across the UK involving “people who just can’t afford to buy food”, Mr Nussbaum said.

He said: “We’ve seen a massive increase in pensioners shoplifting, putting a jar of coffee in their bag and one in the trolley, that sort of thing.

“For us over the last 12 months, we've got this different level of crime now. We're now experiencing something different - pensioners, people who don’t normally shoplift. We've had instances of mothers caught shoplifting when they're with their kids.

“We're used to seeing the organised gangs, that’s the norm, but the types of people being caught now has changed.”

He estimated that 5% of all those caught shoplifting by Kingdom staff on a weekly basis were aged over 50.