I POPPED into a corner shop to buy chocolate last week and a young man was doing the same.
Except he wasn’t buying, he was taking. Or should I say grabbing and running.
GettyWhat are those in authority doing about Britain’s shoplifting crisis? Not much if you listen to shopkeepers[/caption]
SWNSEmilie Martin, 39, of East London, was punched in the face outside Tesco after she reported a group teenagers stealing sandwiches[/caption]
The shopkeeper just shrugged and said he does it almost daily.
Sometimes chocolate or cheese, but more often than not, beer.
“It’s pointless calling the police. They’re not interested,” he added.
OK, it was just a chocolate bar. And when Policing Minister Dame Diana Johnson witnessed a “brazen” theft in Hull’s M&S last week, it was just a bunch of flowers.
But these things add up. And when it involves professional gangs stealing over £120,000 worth of goods — as happened across 50 Morrisons stores last year — it’s little wonder that shoplifting has surged to a record high.
So what are those in authority doing about it?
Well, not much if you listen to shopkeepers or any of the disgruntled motorists filling neighbourhood apps with grim tales of stolen cars and lack of police interest.
But, according to Dame Diana, the Government is “clamping down” on thefts by announcing funding for increased police presence in 500 town centres across the country by, er, 2029.
Better late than never, one supposes, but in the meantime, the rhetoric from those in charge needs to change fast.
For hot on the heels of saying the surge in shoplifting is “unacceptable”, Dame Diana followed it up with the observation that retailers should increase their security and make sure that goods aren’t easily accessible to steal.
Seriously? She wouldn’t (quite rightly) tell a sexual assault victim to dress more modestly for fear of attracting the wrong sort, so why should shopkeepers be expected to alter their store set-up simply because some little oik can’t stay on the right side of the law?
How about actually supporting businesses by providing deterrents such as, hmmm let me think, an arrest and court appearance? That might help.
As for the Conservatives criticising Labour’s plans, spare us. After 14 years in power, they did little to help local communities blighted by petty crime.
And finally, we have Thames Valley Police and Crime Commissioner Matthew Barber who reckons it’s time for you, me and the shopkeepers to step up and do our bit for crime prevention.
“If you’re not even going to challenge people, you’re not going to try and stop them, then people will get away with it,” he says.
“That’s not just about policing. That’s a bigger problem with society . . . you’re part of the problem.”
Life ruined
Who’s he kidding? If people are reporting that car thefts aren’t always investigated by police, why the hell should we believe anything will come of it if we take time out of our day to report a stolen roast chicken from our local supermarket?
Earlier this week, 39-year-old Emilie Martin of East London spoke about her life being ruined when, in 2015, she spotted a group of teenagers stealing sandwiches in Tesco and reported them to the store manager who said they were powerless to stop them.
The youths overheard the interaction and punched her in the face outside the shop.
She had to have two operations on her eyes and nose, has been diagnosed with PTSD, and says London’s Met Police has shown “little concern” about the incident.
Needless to say, no one was ever caught.
Reporting or confronting thieves can be a dangerous game, and it’s the job of the police and justice system to sort it out . . . not us.
NEPAL PEAK SEASON
AP:Associated PressThe Nepal government is opening 97 previously closed Himalayan mountain peaks to try and disperse the soaring crowds[/caption]
TOURISM to Everest has soared so much that the Nepalese government is opening 97 previously closed Himalayan mountain peaks to try and disperse the crowds.
On a fine-weather day, the queue to the summit resembles that of Harrods’ Boxing Day sale.
Meanwhile, there’s an Alpine invasion too, with “horrified” mountain refuge owners reporting a surge in “first-timers” who turn up woefully ill-equipped for the conditions and expecting five-star luxury.
One supposes that the never-ending quest for “Instagrammable” shots has something to do with it, but apparently the Covid-19 pandemic also contributed because people craved solitude.
It sounds like there’s more chance of that if you stay in the city.
JONES FANS SHAME
AFPA US judge was right when he ordered that all assets from the company owned by Alex Jones should be handed over to a court-ordered receiver[/caption]
A US judge has ordered that all assets from Infowars – the company owned by shock jock Alex Jones – should be handed over to a court-ordered receiver.
Quite right too.
For anyone in ignorant bliss of Jones’s far right rantings, he’s the conspiracy theorist who claimed that the Sandy Hook school massacre was a staged hoax to help enact tighter gun control.
The families of the dead victims – 20 young children and six teachers – sued him and won, but five years later the $1billion compensation remains unpaid.
Will this be the end of the man whose other outlandish theories include that certain tornados are government orchestrated to deliberately kill people, that Hillary Clinton is running a child sex ring and that the government is using chemicals to turn people gay.
It’s unclear whether Jones himself believes the rubbish he spouts but, with reported personal wealth of $14million, he has certainly made money from it.
But what about the people who contribute to his bank balance by tuning in and hanging on his every word?
What’s their excuse?
ROYAL MOVE
WILLIAM and Kate’s imminent move to Forest Lodge in Windsor Great Park has been described as “downsizing” because it’s likely that they will live there, rather than Buckingham Palace, when he eventually becomes King.
As well as their new place, which has eight bedrooms, they have a 20-room apartment in Kensington Palace for London stayovers, and at weekends they decamp to the ten-bedroom Anmer Hall set in 59 acres on Norfolk’s Sandringham estate. Cripes. I guess this is “downsizing” the royal way.
ROBO STROP
AS the autumn Budget looms and working people brace themselves for yet another potential tax grab, the stories of government waste continue.
This time, it’s the £100million spent by Conservative Chancellor Jeremy Hunt last year to set up the Alan Turing Institute.
The aim was to ensure the UK’s position as a leader in AI technology, but the reported result is that it’s “in crisis” thanks to in-fighting and a “toxic culture”.
One academic has called it a “car crash” while another said it was shaped too much by “the political need to found an institution and claim we are internationally leading” when the money would have been better spent in support of existing AI academics in their own universities.
A spokesman for the institute blathers about “substantial organisational change to ensure we deliver on the promise . . . ” etc, all of which sounds expensive and suggests they’ve done bog all up to now.
Oh the irony, but perhaps robots would have done a better job.
SOME of the Afghans promised a new life in Britain after risking their lives to work with our soldiers are facing being deported back “in to the arms of the Taliban”.
Former frontline interpreter “Hafiz” and his family have been stuck in a hotel in Pakistan’s capital Islamabad for the past two years and are still waiting for a visa to come here.
Now, in what’s been described as a “horrifying development”, there are reports of arrests by Pakistani police and possible deportation to Afghanistan.
Rather than relying on official channels, it seems they’d have been better off jumping in a small boat and joining the 50,000 illegal migrants who have arrived here since “smash the gangs” Labour took charge.
CELEBRATE JOAN’S MAX FACTOR AT 92
Dame Joan Collins looked fabulous in a white one-piece while enjoying the sun in St TropezInstagram
DAME Joan Collins has posted a photo of herself enjoying the hot weather in St Tropez.
Wearing a white one-piece and a colourful, wide-brimmed hat to protect her face from sun damage, she looks fabulous.
But, as ever, a churlish few have commented that the image may have been filtered. Even if it has, so what? She’s 92, for God’s sake.
Her brain is as sharp as a tack, she’s travelling the world, dressing to kill, dining in fine restaurants and still working.
That a nonagenarian is still able to live her life to the max should be celebrated, not sniped at.
EAU MY!
A MICHELIN-starred restaurant in Cheshire has introduced the first ever “water menu”.
The selection on offer at La Popote, near Congleton, starts from £5 for a bottle of “Crag Spring”, right up to £19 for a fizzy offering from Portugal’s “Palace of Vidago”.
Eau my. For that price, I’d expect to stay there too.
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