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Daily Mail
7 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Now shopkeepers are warned putting shoplifters' pictures in their windows breaches data protection - days after row over sign calling them 'scumbags'
Shopkeepers have been warned putting shoplifters' pictures in their windows risks breaching data protection. It comes days after a business owner was told by police to remove a sign calling thieves 'scumbags'. Now the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) suggested the practice 'may not be appropriate' behaviour. On an advice page for tackling shoplifters, the watchdog said stores 'must only share personal information that's proportionate and necessary to achieve your purpose'. In response, shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick told The Telegraph: 'Shoplifters should be named and publicly shamed.' He added that the recommendation was 'data protection gone mad'. Richard Tice, Reform UK leader, said: 'We should be letting the general public know of the photographs of people who have a track record of stealing in towns. 'This highlights the complete insanity of GDPR which is damaging to healthcare, it's damaging to law and order. It's damaging to businesses and our economy.' He claimed that the suggestion was siding with thieves over shopkeepers, who should be able to decide who enters their premises. Shadow home office minister Katie Lam recounted a story on X about a constituent who had been ordered by police to remove pictures of suspected shoplifters. The ICO, a non-departmental body sponsored by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, added in a blog post from 2023 that thefts could be tackled using data protection laws but only 'as long as it's necessary and proportionate'. In lieu of posting photos of suspected thieves, the body suggests retailers share details of the shoplifters with police or any information they may have about the incident with another store nearby. It also said that sharing photos on messaging platforms had the potential to be similarly inappropriate. Last week, it was revealed that a defiant shopkeeper who was told by police to remove a shoplifting sign in case it caused offence was planning to put up an even bigger one. Police caused a free-speech row when they turned up at Rob Davis's vintage store in North Wales and told him to take down a handwritten sign that referred to shoplifters as 'scum bags'. They told him they had received a complaint about the notice, which stated: 'Due to scum bags shoplifting please ask for assistance to open cabinets.' But Mr Davis, who says he was driven to put it up on his shop door because of escalating shoplifting in Wrexham, told The Mail on Sunday that he had no intention of taking it down. He added: 'The sign is staying – and I may even get a bigger one. 'It's a simple point, in my opinion, and succinctly put, and can't cause offence apart from to anyone intending to steal from me. 'I was even polite and put "Thank you" on the bottom.' Mr Davis, 59, said he put it up a month ago in frustration after discovering that he was losing almost his entire monthly profit because of thieves – but was astonished to then get a visit from the police. He said: 'A police officer and PCSO came in. They said the sign was provocative and potentially offensive. 'When I asked, 'Why, who it could be offensive to?' the officer didn't answer. The only person who can be offended by the words 'scum bag' is a scum bag who wants to steal from me!' Mr Davis said he had received overwhelming support from fellow shopkeepers in the face of a tidal wave of theft in the town. 'There's been massive support everywhere since the sign went up,' he added. 'Shopkeepers are all in the same boat; everyone is having stuff stolen, even cafes.' He began locking goods in cabinets after he said police failed to deal with earlier shoplifting incidents. He added: 'Over the past year I have caught five people shoplifting. After the first, I called the police. They handed the stolen shirt to me and let the shoplifter go. Now I don't bother reporting them. Almost every day I get shoplifting.' He said that after putting out 30 sets of fishnet stockings, 20 were taken, adding: 'Theft has definitely got worse. 'If you are £200 down because of shoplifting that might be my profit for the whole month.' Mr Davis said retailers in the town were facing a number of prolific shoplifters and criticised police efforts to tackle them. 'I pay two lots of rates, business and residential, and part goes to policing. I'm not getting the service I'm paying for. 'If I had a builder and he didn't provide the service properly, I wouldn't pay.' He urged police: 'Just do the job you are there for. You are a public service. You don't need to be coming here telling me anything unless I am doing something wrong, otherwise leave me alone.' North Wales Police said: 'All reports of shoplifting are taken extremely seriously. We are committed to combatting retail theft.' Shoplifting figures released this week by the British Retail Consortium (BRC) showed just 2.5 per cent of offences were recorded by the police each year. It said 50,000 shoplifting incidents go unreported every day as firms give up on the police. BRC chief executive Helen Dickinson said: 'Many retailers do not see the point of reporting incidents to the police.'
Times
36 minutes ago
- Times
ScotRail to introduce first penalty tickets for fare dodgers
Passengers who deliberately board trains without a ticket to escape fares are facing a crackdown. ScotRail said it was considering financial measures such as forcing dodgers to pay a 'minimum fare' for the whole route rather than, at present, being required to pay only the fee for the claimed length of their journey. Fare dodging deprives the rail company of millions of pounds a year. In the past financial year ScotRail recorded 1,644 instances of fare dodging, up from 869 the year before, although this is likely to be an underestimate of the actual number of incidents. No fares were recovered in more than half of the recorded cases. In England fare dodgers face £100 fines but this system has not been adopted in Scotland. However, charging evaders in Scotland a minimum fare is expected to act as a deterrent because passengers who make short journeys that cost less than the minimum will have to pay more. The problem is most acute when trains are busy and ticket inspectors face difficulties checking all tickets, particularly where travellers make short journeys. An industry source told Scotland on Sunday: 'This looks like a revenue protection initiative, where a passenger with no ticket on a train or at the end of their journey is obliged to buy a 'minimum fare' ticket. 'This would probably be more expensive than many low-value ScotRail tickets, such as a £3 Mount Florida to Glasgow Central single, and act as an encouragement for passengers to buy a ticket before boarding a train. It's believed to be better than a penalty fares scheme.' Claire Baker, Scottish Labour's transport spokeswoman, said: 'It is not right that commuters are forced to pay more because a small minority are trying to game the system.' ScotRail, the state-owned train operator, estimated it lost £10 million a year to ticket fraud. The company identified a minimum fares strategy among key initiatives it was considering in this financial year, subject to approval from Transport Scotland. The apparent rise in fare dodging, the company says, is mainly because of an increase in revenue protection officers aboard trains rather than a decline in passenger behaviour. Transport Scotland said: 'ScotRail has a number of ways to make it easy for passengers to buy their tickets before they board, online, via the app, ticket machine or from ticket offices. 'In line with their existing revenue protection policy, additional measures to further reduce ticketless travel are under consideration.'
The Independent
36 minutes ago
- The Independent
Overhaul of road safety laws ‘much overdue', experts say
Motoring groups have hailed Government plans to overhaul road safety laws as 'much overdue' and 'a step in the right direction'. Ministers are considering cutting the drink-drive limit in England and Wales and introducing mandatory eye tests for older drivers, according to The Times. The proposals, set to be published as part of a road safety strategy in the autumn, also include tougher penalties for uninsured driving and failing to wear a seatbelt. On Britain's roads last year, 1,633 people were killed and almost 28,000 seriously injured in traffic incidents, and numbers have remained relatively constant following a large fall between 2000 and 2010. Edmund King, AA president, said: 'The time has come for a bold and proactive approach to road safety. 'This strategy is much overdue as road deaths have plateaued over the last decade. 'We believe these new measures will not only modernise our approach to saving lives but also provide renewed momentum in making our roads safer for everyone.' Vision checks for older drivers and targeting drink and drug drivers are 'practical steps that can make a real difference', he said. But failing to introduce limits on new drivers transporting peer-age passengers for six months is 'a major oversight', he added. IAM RoadSmart director of policy and standards Nicholas Lyes said: 'Given progress on reducing fatal and serious collisions has stalled in recent years, we welcome the UK Government's ambition to publish an updated road safety strategy with the reported measures being a step in the right direction. 'While many drivers over the age of 70 are safe and competent, health issues and confidence can have an impact on driving abilities, so it is sensible to review whether changes need to be made. 'We would also support reducing the drink-drive limit in England and Wales alongside measures to target drug-driving, however these would require significantly more backing for roads policing teams to effectively enforce new laws.' A Labour source said: 'At the end of the last Labour government, the number of people killed and seriously injured on our roads was at a record low, but numbers have remained stubbornly high under successive Conservative governments. 'In no other circumstance would we accept 1,600 people dying, with thousands more seriously injured, costing the NHS more than £2 billion per year.' Meanwhile, the number of people killed in drink-driving incidents has risen over the past decade, reaching a 13-year high in 2022 and prompting concern that existing road safety measures are no longer working. Under the plans being considered by Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander, the drink-drive limit in England and Wales could be cut from 35 micrograms of alcohol per 100ml of breath to 22 micrograms. This figure would be in line with Scotland – which cut its drink-drive limit in 2014 – and the rest of Europe, where no other country has a limit as high as that in England and Wales. The UK is also one of only three European countries to rely on self-reporting of eyesight problems that affect driving, leading ministers to consider compulsory eye tests every three years for drivers aged over 70 and a driving ban for those who fail. Other proposals are reported to include allowing the police to bring prosecutions for drug-driving on the basis of roadside saliva tests rather than blood tests as increasing numbers of drivers are being caught with drugs in their system. The Labour source added: 'This Labour Government will deliver the first road safety strategy in a decade, imposing tougher penalties on those breaking the law, protecting road users and restoring order to our roads.' The strategy is due to be published in the autumn, and all proposals will be subject to consultation.
