Thief banned from every Greggs store in Britain after targeting one shop SEVEN times as cops launch crackdown

The Sun

21-05-2025

A SERIAL thief has been barred from every Greggs in England and Wales after repeatedly targeting the same bakery in a shameless crime spree.
Patrick Verry, 33, is now forbidden from entering any of the high street baker's hundreds of branches following a court order brought by the Met Police.
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He was caught in the act last week by officers inside a Greggs shop in Wood Green, North London, after striking the location seven times.
Verry was arrested on the spot and brought before Highbury Magistrates' Court the following day, where he admitted to six counts of theft from the same Greggs store.
Police described him as one of the capital's 'most prolific shoplifters' — and now he's banned from every Greggs outlet across the country in a move to protect staff and customers.
The order comes as part of a new Met Police blitz on retail crime amid soaring shoplifting rates nationwide.
Chief Inspector Rav Pathania, the Met's retail crime lead, said: 'The Met is focused on tackling the most prolific shoplifters like Verry.
"They cause fear to retail workers and their offending has a negative impact on communities.'
He continued: 'We continue to work with local business owners to investigate reports of shoplifting, understand concerns and use different tactics to crackdown, including targeted operations and regular patrols."
The ban on Verry comes as The Sun lifts the lid on the true scale of the shoplifting crisis crippling British high streets.
Our undercover investigation found Greggs shops across the country being stripped of stock in broad daylight, with some stores experiencing a theft every 20 minutes.
At one busy location in South London, a thief was seen stuffing doughnuts and drinks into his pockets before barging past staff and walking out unfazed.
In another shocking clip filmed in Tooting, a brave female Greggs manager tried to stop a thief who was carrying several bottles of Coca-Cola.
She shouted: 'You're not having all of that,' as the crook tried to leave.
He coolly replied: 'Yeah I'm walking out with them, watch me.'
Customers looked on in silence, too scared to step in. A witness said: 'There were two grown men just stood by the tills.
"Everyone was just silent.
"No one said a word. People are just afraid now.'
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The Met later confirmed it was not alerted to the Tooting incident, which happened in August, highlighting just how many shoplifting cases go unreported.
Our reporters saw similar scenes play out in branches from Newcastle to Brighton, with thieves helping themselves to hot food, drinks and sandwiches without even trying to hide it.
In Stockwell, South London, one man was caught on camera filling his coat with products before grabbing two boxes of jam doughnuts worth £3 each and fleeing during the lunchtime rush.
A cookie grab, then fist bump
THEFTS we saw in just two days at Greggs bakery in Stockwell South London.
Wednesday, 11.45am: Man strolls in, picks up a box of doughnuts and walks out.
1.30pm: A man lines his pockets with doughnuts and products from the fridge.
A shop worker pleads with him to pay. The thug threatens him and barges out.
3.45pm: Two men raid the fridges, with one pinching Lucozade bottles, while the other scoffs chicken bites.
4pm: A pair of teenage schoolchildren take a Lucozade drink and hot food.
Thursday, 11.10am: Two men walk in and start grabbing hot food and drinks. They appear to queue before also taking doughnut and walking out without paying.
11.30am: An OAP pretends to be on the phone before snatching hot food.
1.30pm: A man grabs three bottles of Lucozade, hot food and cookies. Challenged, he gives back the food and drink, gives the worker a fist bump and strolls out eating a cookie
2pm: A man steals two baguettes and a bottle of Coca-Cola. As he leaves, a public address states: 'Shoplifting will not be tolerated.'
In Worthing, West Sussex, two men repeatedly walked in and out of Greggs helping themselves to hot food from the display cabinets.
On Brighton's Queen's Road, one crook walked off with two trays of wedges in front of a stunned staff member. 'Average day,' the employee said when asked about it.
Minutes later, another thief ran out with two trays of wedges and a sandwich, while yet another masked man sprinted off carrying food as helpless staff shouted after him.
In Southampton, a man entered just after midday, grabbed four hot food items and said: 'Sorry guys, I'm homeless, I need to eat,' before walking straight out the door.
In many cases, Greggs staff are told not to intervene directly with thieves for safety reasons.
One insider told us: 'They've been told not to chase anyone, not to engage. It's heartbreaking for the team.'
Astonishingly, just 350 people have been prosecuted for stealing from Greggs in the last six months.
Of those, only 111 received immediate or suspended jail time — and most had long criminal records.
Greggs has started introducing extra security measures in stores hit hardest by crime.
That includes removing self-serve fridges, placing chilled food behind the till, and trialling bouncers in some branches.
55k thefts every day across UK
By Julia Atherley
BRITAIN is facing a shop- lifting epidemic with a record 55,000 incidents a day.
In 2024, it cost retailers £2.2billion, up from £1.8billion in 2023, figures show.
Offences reported by police in England and Wales have jumped 23 per cent to more than 492,000 in the past 12 months, says the Office for National Statistics.
The scourge is being driven by the perception that offenders are rarely caught or punished.
Graham Wynn, of the British Retail Consortium, described shoplifting as a 'major trigger for violence and abuse against staff'.
Mr Wynn said: 'The rise in organised crime is a significant concern, with gangs hitting stores one after another.
'Sadly, such theft is not a victimless crime; it pushes up the cost for honest shoppers and damages the customer experience.'
Labour has promised to make assaulting a retail worker an offence and treat more seriously thefts of goods worth less than £200.
One staff member said: 'It's like we're on the front line. You're trying to sell sausage rolls but you're looking over your shoulder constantly.'
Greggs boss Roisin Currie confirmed the company is now using facial recognition technology to catch thieves and pass images to police.
'We've now got a system where we can take photos of people committing theft on the shop floor and that then instantly goes to the police,' she told The Sun.
The bakery chain is also investing in body cameras for workers and running trials with a 24-hour shoplifting helpline.
A Greggs spokeswoman said: 'Shoplifting is an industry-wide issue and we take it extremely seriously.
The safety of our colleagues and customers remains our absolute priority.'
Politicians have backed The Sun's investigation.
Shadow Justice Secretary Robert Jenrick said: 'This is an important and timely investigation from The Sun, exposing just how bad the shoplifting epidemic has become.
"There has to be consequences for this appalling criminality.'
Policing Minister Dame Diana Johnson added: 'Retail workers should never feel unsafe at work. That is why we're taking robust action to tackle shop theft and protect workers.'
She confirmed new laws are coming under the government's Crime and Policing Bill, which will create a specific offence for assaulting shop staff and scrap the £200 threshold that previously gave low-level shoplifters 'effective immunity.'
Meanwhile, the Met has released dramatic new footage showing suspects sprinting from stores clutching bottles, sandwiches and snacks as part of a wider crackdown on repeat retail offenders.
And police chiefs say they're not stopping with Verry, more bans could be coming for other prolific shoplifters as efforts ramp up to restore order on Britain's battered high streets.
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