In a government turnaround on retail crime policy, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has announced that assaulting a shop worker is to be made a standalone criminal offence.
Offenders could face a prison sentence of up to six months and receive an unlimited fine. They could also be banned from the shop premises, where they committed an offence. If found in breach of the ban, perpetrators could be imprisoned for up to five years.
The measures will be part of the Criminal Justice Bill, currently making its way through parliament.
“I am sending a message to those criminals—whether they are serious organised criminal gangs, repeat offenders or opportunistic thieves—who think they can get away with stealing from these local businesses or abusing shopworkers, enough is enough. Our local shops are the lifeblood of our communities, and they must be free to trade without the threat of crime or abuse,” Mr. Sunak said in a statement.
The government has acknowledged that the decision to introduce a standalone offence followed “longstanding campaigning” by MPs and retailers.
Ministers have previously argued that a legislative change wasn’t necessary. Responding to a petition last October, the Home Office said it didn’t believe that legislating a standalone criminal offence to crack down on retail crime would “result in the most positive impact.”
“We are enhancing our plan and doubling down on the zero-tolerance approach needed to fight back,” Mr. Cleverly said.
Under the proposed changes, offenders causing grievous bodily harm with intent could face a life sentence. Repeat offenders will be forced to wear an electronic tag as part of any community order.
Ahead of the Criminal Justice Bill coming in, the government plans to partner with police to pilot community sentencing measures. Facial recognition technology will be used to in crowded areas to identify wanted offenders, including repeat shoplifters.
Long Overdue
The number of violent and abusive incidents in the retail sector increased significantly between 2021–2022 and 2022–2023. Reporting on the figures, the British Retail Consortium (BRC) has revealed that out of 41,000 incidents, close to 9,000 cases resulted in injury.Responding to the government’s announcement, the BRC welcomed the introduction of a standalone offence.
“Victims are ordinary hardworking people—teenagers taking on their first job, carers looking for part-time work, parents working around childcare. This announcement sends a clear message that this abusive behaviour will not be tolerated. It will improve the police response, which has historically been poor, as police will now have the necessary data to understand the scale of the problem and allocate sufficient resource to address this issue,” said BRC’s Chief Executive Helen Dickinson.
The Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers (USDAW), which has been long campaigning for action, said that the government’s announcement was “long overdue.”
The delay has led to thousands of shopworkers “needlessly suffering physical and mental injury,” said USDAW General Secretary Paddy Lillis. He cautioned that the proposed measures have to match the commitments made by the Labour Party.
This includes “13,000 more uniformed officers, patrols on high streets, banning repeat offenders and ending the perverse £200 threshold for prosecuting shoplifters.”
In England and Wales, the £200 threshold was introduced in the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014. It means that shoplifters taking under £200 worth of goods face a maximum sentence of six months and can plead guilty by post.
Under the plan, the police are meant to prioritise attending scenes of shoplifting involving violence against a shop worker. This applies to cases where guards have detained an offender or where attendance is needed to secure evidence.
