East Lothian shop owner who was held at 'knife point' says shoplifting out of control

Edinburgh Live

5 hours ago

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An East Lothian shop owner has detailed how shoplifting is out of control after he was threatened by knife wielding thieves.
Dan Brown, who runs a store in Musselburgh, claimed his store experiences around ten thefts a day.
The issue of shoplifting is at its highest level in Scotland for 54 years with many blaming the cost of living crisis, the nation's drug problem and worryingly, organised crime. Dan has called for tougher penalties and says staff increasingly feel that their lives are in danger, the Daily Record reports.
The 33-year-old, who runs the PInkie Farm convenience store in Musselburgh is currently losing tens of thousands of pounds a year. Most of the thefts are by repeat offenders, with many selling the stolen goods to feed a drug habit. Recently a shoplifter convicted at Edinburgh Sheriff Court of assaulting him was back in his store later that day stealing goods.
On two occasions in 2023 Dan was threatened with a knife by a shoplifter he confronted. He has also been assaulted. Recently one thief walked out with £250 worth of food in a trolley. Others will load up holdalls and then calmly walk out. Another major problem is large numbers of children stealing sweets or cans of juices.
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Dan said:"Thefts are becoming more threatening and violent. "We do not want to put out staff in harms way." Most businesses now have a don't approach rule. "The problem is that the shoplifters expect to walk in and walk out with stuff completely unchallenged. "The larger value thefts are fuelled by organised crime and addiction. "These people can be quite dangerous."
The most common stolen items are fresh meat, ready meals, coffee and cleaning products like washing powder. Dan has the latest instore CCTV technology which warns shoplifters and sends images straight to his phone but it's not deterring the thieves
He added:"Unless you want to tackle them and put yourself in danger then there is not a lot you can do." Dan says the police are under resourced and only able to investigate the larger scale thefts or where the CCTV identifies a suspect.
He continued:"As a retailer I am getting more and more and more concerned about my safety and my staff's safety "A lot are repeat offenders who are stealing multiple times a day form various shops including mine. "It gets to the point where you get quite disheartened."
Dan says he is now very concerned for the safety of his staff on a day to day basis. He concluded: "There is no real deterrent for these shoplifters. "Until there are significant punishments for shoplifting it it is only going to get worse." We are seeing a significant rise in thefts and they are becoming increasingly violent and more aggressive. "There are more instances each day where we feel our lives are in danger.
Shock figures published by the Scottish Government show shoplifting increased by 16 percent from 38,674 cases to 44,730 cases last year. It represents a 57 percent rise over the ten year period between 2015/16 and 2024/25. The figures show a drop during Covid but increases in the last four years to the highest level since 1971 - according to the Scottish Government.
A separate report from Police Scotland released on Monday revealed a spike in shoplifting between July and September last year when there were 22,806 cases up more than 18 percent on the same period the previous year.
The report by Chief Constable Jo Farrell said:"The key drivers in this rise were identified as cost of living serious organised crime, changes in retail environment peer pressure, addiction and assaults of retail workers."
Trade body the Scottish Retail Consortium say the shoplifting cases being reported by stores are only the tip of the iceberg. A spokesperson added:"Despite significant investment in crime prevention, shop theft continues to rise. Many low-level incidents go unreported. Shoplifting is not a victimless crime; it often leads to abuse and threats towards shop workers and the financial burden ultimately falls on customers through higher prices."
Luke McGarty of the Scottish Grocers Federation added: "The latest figures will come as no surprise to anyone working in the retail in Scotland. Crime has risen exponentially in stores in the past few years, and in the worst cases retailers and staff are forced to put up with multiple instances of theft and abuse every day. "What the statistics don't show is the impact that crime has on the viability of running a local shop and the harm to the wellbeing of staff, families and the wider community. "Our own research for the Scottish convenience sector confirms that shop theft and vandalism carries with it an average yearly cost of £19,600 per store. "That's over £100 million taken out of small local businesses, many of which provide essential lifeline services and local employment at the very heart of their community."
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Police Scotland say they have received £3m from the Scottish Government to tackle shoplifting.
Assistant Chief Constable Tim Mairs added:"This funding has been utilised to create a Retail Crime Taskforce, which supports local policing divisions in addressing retail crime, such as shoplifting. "We work closely with key industry partners, retail sector groups and with Retailers Against Crime to protect shop workers, and bring those who offend to justice. "It is unacceptable that anyone should feel unsafe in their workplace."While we have seen a continued increase in shoplifting this year, the number of shoplifting incidents where an offender has been identified have also increased, demonstrating our commitment to investigate these crimes."