Kent shopkeeper shames shoplifters online in bid to reduce thefts

ITV News

19 hours ago

A shopkeeper in Kent has come up with an unusual way of stopping thefts from his convenience store.
Suki Athwal posts CCTV footage of alleged offenders on social media to publicly shame them and he says a surprising number of them come back and pay. Shop theft is running at record levels, and there are calls for tougher penalties for those who are caught.
Kent Police say they take retail crime very seriously and are urging traders to report all offences to them rather than posting information online.
Mr Athwal's family have run the Shop Around The Clock convenience store in Tenterden for the last 35 years but recently they've been dismayed by the number of customers who take goods off the shelves and leave without paying.
He is now posting CCTV footage of alleged offenders on Facebook.
Mr Athwal said: "We just started clipping up videos of when people have stolen from us and posted it online.
"I try to make it a bit of joke around it because I think we need to turn the negative into a positive.
"We've found now that people are starting to come back to us to pay or their family comes back as they've seen their relative online and they're a bit ashamed and disappointed in them - and that's when I take the post down and that's starting to work for us."
Some shopkeepers say they've stopped reporting thefts because nothing happens but Kent Police say they take the crime very seriously.
"We've got more officers out on the beat, in town centers, in neighbourhoods. Every ward in Kent has a dedicated, named officer who can be contacted via the Kent Police website.
"We engage regularly with local businesses and key partners and stakeholders to understand what their concerns are, particularly around retail crime which is a real priority as a force and organisation so I think we're doing a great deal to try and get out there, be visible, prevent crime and when a crime is reported, do our very best to investigate it thoroughly."
Suki Athwal says shop theft has become more of a problem since the cost of living crisis. But this is not a victimless crime.
The British Independent Retailers Association says shoplifting is spiralling out of control, costing traders and customers £2.2 billion pounds a year.
Last year's figures were the worst on record.