Some Chiswick shops now display 'Shoplifters Not Welcome' signs
February 1, 2025
The police have disclosed that they arrested a woman last Wednesday (29 January) who had previous convictions for shoplifting in Chiswick.
Officers were on the look out for after she failed to attend Crown Court and, when they encountered her, she was arrested by PC Jones.
When a search of her person was carried out, she was found to be in possession of a small amount of heroin.
She was charged and remanded to court on both offences.
In England and Wales, the vast majority of shoplifting cases are handled by Magistrates' Courts with just 1% sent to Crown Court in previous years.
This distribution reflects the classification of shoplifting as a summary offence, typically dealt with in Magistrates' Courts due to its relatively lower severity. However, in instances where the offence is particularly serious or involves aggravating factors, the case may be escalated to the Crown Court which has the ability to hand down more severe cases.
The police have not confirmed whether the woman detained was the same person who was arrested earlier this year after a raid on a house near Chiswick High Road discovered £6,000 worth of stolen goods.
The arrests are part of a broader crackdown by police in the area after complaints from local shop owners about the level of theft from their premises. The latest figures show that in Chiswick Gunnersbury ward, which includes most of the shops in the town centre, December 2024 saw just 19 reported offences, the second lowest number in the year. However, for the year overall, this type of offence is still up by 16.&% with 301 cases. There were only three reported cases last December in shops in the area of the High Road which is part of Chiswick Homefields ward but offences there more than doubled in 2024. The police reported one positive outcome relating to shoplifting offences committed in Chiswick in December.
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