Shoplifter who stole items price hundreds over 20 years by no means jailed

A shoplifter who stole ‘tens of thousands’ of pounds worth of goods over a 20-year career which saw him steal £300 a day has revealed he was never jailed.

Ross, who has 23 convictions in the past two decades including 15 for shoplifting, boasted to the BBC: ‘I’d be a gold medallist if it was a sport’.

The 39-year-old became one of the most prolific shoplifters in Leeds which involved him terrorising shops all over the city to fund his crack cocaine and heroin addiction.

Ross insists he never used violence and only targeted big chains, while defending his actions by saying it was because he was ‘ill’ and it was a ‘simple case of survival’. 

He now claims he is ‘ashamed’ of his actions and has been clean from drugs for five months which has stopped him shoplifting.

Ross revealed his operation worked by stealing to order for middlemen, who would then sell on the goods.

But as well as individuals who were prepared to buy stolen goods, Ross also revealed that businesses across the city would buy them too. 

His customers included shops all across the city and Ross said over time he got to know the best spots to dump his goods, which would presumably be resold. 

He said: ‘With my bag full of stuff, I’d know which shop to go to sell it on and we’d discuss a price and I’m out of there with the money.   

‘Perfume, always a staple. Box sets, cosmetics, leather handbags, a big box of Lego can be £100.

‘I’m not allowed in most of the shops around here. I’m banned from them.’

Ross’s most recent shoplifting conviction in May involved him receiving a suspended prison sentence at Leeds Magistrates’ Court after he stole more than £4,000 worth of goods from Urban Outfitters in Leeds over a two-year period. 

The shop was forced to stop displaying vinyl records on its shelves because of how often Ross was stealing them. 

Ross also showed the presenter text messages that showed him advertising his services to people, writing: ‘Do you think you’ll be wanting any of these bottles when I’m back?’

One respondent asked for an entire shopping list of goods, including: ‘Whiskey, vodka, Baileys, Tia Maria, honey, cheese, washing tablets and liquid if you can please mate.’ 

Ross told the BBC: ‘It was just to buy drugs. I know it’s in the tens of thousands. I’m ashamed to say yeah.

‘I get sick feeling literally thinking about what I used to do and yeah, guilt. 

‘I think I’d be a gold medalist if shoplifting were a sport. 

‘There was a weight of fear every day walking down the hill from where I live, which you’ve got to get rid of. If you can’t you’ve just got to bury it but that’s there every day, yeah.’ 

When asked if the fear was because he might get caught, Ross replied: ‘Yeah, and I was only ever inches away from it and it’s only ever temporarily relieved when you get out of each shop and you haven’t been caught.’ 

When Ross is challenged by the presenter that shoplifting is not a victimless crime and costs the country billions of pounds a year, he replied: ‘People who shoplift are ill and that’s why they are doing it.’ 

The Centre for Retail Research has estimated that shoplifting adds £133 to the cost of an average household’s shopping bill each year. 

When Ross was asked if he understood his actions would cause fear in shop workers, he replied: ‘Oh yeah, please understand that it’s just a simple case of survival, it felt like. I felt like I didn’t have a choice. 

‘There’s always a choice, but it doesn’t feel like you’ve got one when you’re that desperate.’ 

Ross said his life spiralled out of control when he began taking crack and heroin together, which caused his methadone prescription to get stronger.

He is now calling for more support for people with drug and mental health issues, and claims if he got more help he could have led a different life. 

Despite his long list of convictions dating back as far as 2006, he said he was never offered drug treatment beyond a methadone prescription and voluntarily attending Narcotics Anonymous meetings. 

A psychiatric report read out at his most recent court appearance said he was ‘highly likely’ to have ADHD which, along with along with a ‘severely traumatic’ early childhood, led him to addiction.

But Ross still said he has never received any mental health support.

Ross put getting clean down to the intervention of an old friend after the death of a mutual friend.

Experts say 70 per cent of shoplifters are addicts like Ross.

West Yorkshire Police said in a statement the force was ‘very much aware of the concerns of businesses and regularly reviews offences to identify patterns of offending and put robust plans in place to address them’.

The National Police Chiefs’ Council told the BBC it was ‘almost impossible’ to trace most shoplifted goods but insisted it is focused on making sure those involved are brought to justice.

Meanwhile Association of Convenience Stores (ACS) said its members were reporting a ‘high volume’ of ‘very brazen and direct’ incidents of shoplifting, with meat, cheese and alcohol items typically being targeted.

Businesses report seeing their items being sold locally or on Facebook or WhatsApp groups after they are stolen.

James Lowman, ACS chief executive, told the PA news agency that he is aware that other businesses, usually smaller shops, are also purchasing stolen goods.

Mr Lowman said that thieves are stealing to order, speculating that buyers may be turning a ‘blind eye’ because they cannot be sure if items are stolen.

He went on: ‘What we are seeing is a higher volume of theft from the same people who are professional shop thieves, often doing it to feed addiction problems.

‘And how do they do that? Well, they re-sell the products. And so we think there probably is a stronger market for those resold products.

‘And that is something that we have been observing and talking about for the last couple of years.’

Andrew Goodacre, chief executive of the British Independent Retailers Association (Bira) said he is aware of criminal gangs getting involved in organising shoplifters, improving their ability to steal and dispose of the goods.

He also described hearing more cases in the past year of other stores buying the goods once they are stolen.

In Truro, Cornwall, Martin Gaunt, owner of quirky gifts store Happy Piranha, said he followed one thief and witnessed goods taken from his shop being sold on to another trader, Mr Goodacre told PA.

Mr Goodacre went on: ‘I think often it used to be, and it still is, items like meat and cheese.

‘But now our membership consists of pet shops, clothing shops, hardware stores, cookware stores, gift shops, independent department stores, clothing shops.

‘And I think 80% of them report stuff being stolen now which they wouldn’t have done two or three years ago.

‘People are stealing pet food, pet accessories, cleaning materials, kitchen utensils, kettles, all sorts of things, depending on what’s been ordered.

‘But also because putting a cheap kettle on Facebook Marketplace is likely to get a sale very quickly.’

The ACS said 5.6 million incidents of shop theft were reported by its members over the past year, with half of the shoplifters being repeat offenders.

In the last year, convenience stores spent £339 million on crime prevention, such as CCTV, alarms and tagging, the ACS told PA.

A British Retail Consortium (BRC) spokesman said stolen goods were ending up in ‘unscrupulous’ restaurants, on market stalls and online marketplaces.

There has been a rise in recent years of gang-oriented retail crime, with thieves turning up at multiple different stores of the same company in a day, the spokesman said.

He went on: ‘It’s tough for retailers because they do report these crimes and there are processes they go through.

‘But the police response is so low at the moment that unfortunately these crimes, aren’t treated with enough seriousness at the moment.

‘These gangs realise they can get away with it.’

Stephanie Karte from Retailers Against Crime, said: ‘You’ll have your local offender who, unfortunately, nine times out of 10 has an addiction, whether that be alcohol, drugs and, at the end of the day, they’re stealing to feed their habit.

‘Basically the items that they do steal, they’re getting money from that and then where’s the money going? It’s going to the drug dealer.

‘So at the end of the day, when you think about it and all of these little things, it’s all really funding a more serious crime.’