Watching on as a shoplifter systematically filled a basket with stolen goods, shop worker Jo was forced to endure a brazen taunt.
“You can’t touch me. If you touch me, I’ll have you in court. I can hit you, but you can’t touch me.”
The 62-year-old convenience store team leader had to stand in silence, bite her tongue, and watch him walk out into the street unchallenged. “Most shifts, we’re hit,” Jo reveals. “The majority of the time, these aren’t people stealing because there’s a cost-of-living crisis – they are career criminals feeding drug habits, and you don’t know what you’re dealing with.
“These people who are coming in and filling baskets in front of you, they know what they’re doing. They know that you can’t touch them.”
As part of our Let’s Respect Retail campaign, the Daily Mirror has teamed up with the Retail Trust to celebrate Britain’s hero retail workers and delivery drivers – giving them the chance to win them a £500 voucher
Police forces in England and Wales recorded 502,011 shoplifting offences in 2025-26, a 5% drop on the year before but still well above pre-pandemic levels.
But the crisis is being driven by a small number of reoffenders, according to figures from the Centre For Social Justice.
Earlier this year, the think tank warned that 67% of convicted shoplifters go on to commit another offence within 12 months, up from 55% before the pandemic.
In total, convicted shoplifters were responsible for more than 131,000 repeat offences in the latest data 2023-24 figures – a 66% surge that points to a growing scourge of career criminals plaguing Britain’s high streets.
The shocking figures lay bare the daily reality exposed by the Daily Mirror’s Let’s Respect Retail campaign, which is calling for urgent protection and respect for Britain’s three million shop workers ahead of the festive rush.
Describing the reality at her store in Northumberland, Jo says staff have been repeatedly verbally abused and attacked by shoplifters.
“The majority of the time, the people targeting us are known to us. They’re repeat offenders, and it’s really frustrating,” she said. “Quite often a message will flash up on our group chat saying: ‘Such-and-such is out.’
“If – and it’s a big if – they were actually locked up in the first place, at least 85 to 90% of the time, the minute they’re back out, they’re back reoffending. Often it takes time to catch them and get them locked back up.
“I appreciate we’ve got new legislation, but the problem is the time between them reoffending and being back in court. Nine times out of ten, they don’t get a custodial sentence anyway.
“I know we’ve got problems with the prisons and there’s no quick fix, but we are the people on the frontline dealing with this, and it’s day in, day out.”
Thieves routinely strike multiple times during a single shift, before selling the stolen goods on the streets.
“Recently, two stores in our area were hit three times on the exact same evening. In worst-case scenarios, we have to lock the doors just to let staff decompress,” she said. “I’ve even come out of a bingo hall in Manchester and seen a guy outside on the street flogging stolen meat still wrapped in our company’s labels with a crowd around him.”
While recent legislation created a standalone criminal offence for assaulting a retail worker in England and Wales – making it easier to ban offenders using a criminal behaviour orders – the new law is not yet in force, prompting calls for ministers to fast-track its rollout.
Jo warns the lack of visible policing and long court delays is leaving workers feeling vulnerable. Colleagues have been assaulted outside stores after closing, while others have simply quit in fear.
“We have a job to do, we’re going in, we’re putting food on the shelves, I work in food retail, I’m not a bouncer,” Jo says. “I’m 62 now, and there are times I think: I’ve had enough.
“My plea to the government is simple: Please don’t let it get any worse. It’s bad enough now – don’t let it get any worse.”