'We lose £1k a month because of shoplifting'

A shopkeeper says she has lost faith in the police’s ability to help her after repeated bouts of shoplifting saw her lose £1,000 in profits every month.

Manju Odedra and her husband run a Nisa Extra convenience store in Allesley, Coventry, but say they are struggling to make ends meet as they are plagued by shoplifters every day.

It follows the latest West Midlands Police figures which show a 44% rise in recorded shoplifting and retail crime in Coventry compared to this time last year.

The force said it was using community orders to ban prolific shoplifters in the city.

Across the West Midlands, in the 12 months up to June, a total of 26,145 shoplifting offences were recorded by the force, compared with 19,184 in the previous 12-month period.

The 36% rise is higher than the average for England and Wales over the same time frame (29%).

For Mrs Odedra, the problem seems never ending.

“It’s almost every day, sometimes people take whole boxes of beer and run away, they swear and abuse the staff,” the shopkeeper told BBC CWR.

She added: “It has a lot of impact on the business, we’re losing stock, it’s a minimum of £1,000 a month.

“We’ve spoken to the police several times but they are not bothered.

"We’ve stopped calling the police because it’s not worth it, it’s like calling and wasting your time because they aren’t doing anything.

“We can’t afford security guards here because sales have gone down, it would absolutely help if police were more proactive.”

The Retail Trust charity found 80% of shop workers and 90% of store managers have faced abusive incidents at work, with 98% verbally abused, a third (33%) threatened with violence, 14% physically assaulted and 10% spat on.

West Midlands Police said it always investigated reports of shoplifting and any evidence the force received.

A spokesperson added: “We always encourage businesses to report shoplifting, as it helps us build a clear intelligence picture of where and when it is happening and who is responsible.

“A key tool we use now is the criminal behaviour order (CBO) - these allow us to ban known offenders from coming to certain areas of the city, leading them to be arrested if found there.

"This allows us to take action much earlier and prosecute people who are known as prolific shoplifters.”

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