Latest news with #shoplifting
The Sun
a day ago
- The Sun
I pinched £30m worth of goods as UK's most prolific shoplifter to get my daily hit of heroin – I've been jailed 28 times
A WOMAN who became one of Britain's most prolific shoplifters has revealed how she stole £30 million worth of goods in her 20-year crime spree. Keeley Knowles, 42, stole high value designer clothes and handbags around Birmingham to fund her drug addiction. 3 3 Now, she's lifted the lid on her criminal activities spurred on by her heroin habit. But now that Keeley is 18 months clean, she has turned her life around and is sharing her story to warn others. She said she would target shops every morning and raked in up to £8,000 a day selling on the stolen items via a WhatsApp group in order to feed her heroin addiction. Keeley, of Kings Heath, Birmingham, said: "I was known as Birmingham's most prolific shoplifter for around 20 years. "I was fully involved in the lifestyle. I could easily do seven grams of heroin in a day. When my habit finished I was spending around £1,000 a day. "Instead of going to supermarkets I would go into upmarket stores and take handbags and purses." She pinched £3.7 million worth of stock from one shop alone and is thought to have raked in around £30 million over the years as 'Birmingham's most prolific shoplifter'. Keeley has now revealed how she would fool shop staff by phoning them, pretending to be a police officer to check when security would be on the doors. "People think only gangs are organised crime and that's not right," she said. "I'd get up in the morning and ring around different stores and I would say: 'Good morning, this is PC2417, I'm calling about the theft on Tuesday.' 3 I spent 40k on ketamine and microdosed eight times a day "Because there was always a theft, it's a big store. "And then you would always get some really lovely woman who would answer the phone saying 'there's no security today'. "And I would say, 'Oh well, can you tell me when they are back in?' They would tell me they are not in Monday, Thursday and Friday. And I'd be writing all this down. I knew when people's pay days were, what size their kids were, what people's favourite designer was. Keeley Knowles And she would also fill a sleeping bag-style jacket from the 'ground to her armpit' after slicing up the material to make compartments to conceal the goods. "I wouldn't use a bag for shoplifting. I've had alarms go off and I'd let them look in my handbag and then just walk outside," she explained. "I had a WhatsApp group that had around 150 people in it, I'd take photos on the train or bus after coming out of a shop and before I even got half way home it would be sold. " Money would either go in my bank or I would go and drop it off and collect the money. "I knew when people's pay days were, what size their kids were, what people's favourite designer was." Keeley said she spent every single day shoplifting, apart from on Christmas Day and Good Friday when the shops were closed. "To make a thousand pounds you've got to steal a lot of stuff a day. Some days I'd steal £7,000 to £8,000 worth of stock," Keeley revealed. But thanks to a pioneering new treatment for addicts, Keeley is now 18 months clean having turned her life around and is now sharing her story as a warning to others. Life of Crime Keeley's life of crime began when she was just 13-years-old when she met a 21-year-old man and she was soon hooked on heroin. Speaking to the Birmz Is Grime blog, she added, "I got in trouble a lot when I was younger, firearms and drugs. "I was chosen to travel to Liverpool to pick up kilos of heroin and crack - the equivalent of todays county lines but nobody knew of that back then. I was 13. "My nan and grandad brought me up, my dad was in jail and I didn't see my mum. Because of the generation gap I don't think they knew what was going on,. "I got away with murder, I think my nan thought I had flu for years, when I was suffering withdrawals. But they were there through everything. "I got arrested and went to prison around once a year. "There's a store in Selly Oak, and their security guard once told an officer I had taken £3.7 million worth of stock. "And Loss Prevention magazine have estimated it at around £30 million. "But if you're estimating that from me going into a shop once a day, I promise you its more than that. I didn't live, I just existed. I just got up, scored, went grafting, sold it, scored, slept - and I did it all over again. Keeley Knowles "I'd steal so much I'd have to go get a trolley from Sainsbury's just to move it. "There's no rush to it, it was just what I had to do to feed my addiction. "So many security know me, it's shocking. To the point one stopped me the other week, I haven't been in trouble for so long either, to say happy birthday. "I said 'how do you know its my birthday?' and he said 'Keeley I've had to fill out your date of birth constantly for how many years'. "I didn't live, I just existed. I just got up, scored, went grafting, sold it, scored, slept - and I did it all over again. "I've been to jail 28 times here and three times in Amsterdam. There's only three jails in the country I haven't been to and its the same faces each time. "Women's jail is like St Trinian's on crack - that is the best way you can describe it. 90 per cent are there for addiction. "I thought I would die a junkie." New Beginnings She said her saving grace was West Midlands Police's Offending to Recovery programme, which offers support for addicts. Keeley now works alongside the programme, doing outreach work with drug users and gives talks on the drug Buvidal, a slow-release opioid blocker. She has also won a National Business Crime Solutions Award and since reconnected with her family. She added: "It was the security guard at the £3.7 million shop who said 'you're better than this' and referred me and got me listed for help with the offending to recovery team. "I'd love to say I had a big epiphany but I just found the number in a drawer one day and I thought I'd try them. "They were telling me about this new treatment and I thought it was bulls**t, but I agreed to do it. "I was having seizures, hallucinations, it was horrific, but then I had this injection and I slept like a normal human, had no cravings. "I've now tried to make my recovery something for other people as well. "Seeing somebody who has been even lower than you come out the other end is very different to being told it by somebody who sits in an office and gets paid to do it. "I was unfixable, don't write anyone off. If I can be fixed, anyone can be fixed."
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Yahoo
VIDEO: Teens charged, baby safe after Grove City police pursuit
GROVE CITY, Ohio (WCMH) — Two teenagers are facing charges following an incident in which they allegedly fled from police, all while having a one-year-old child in the car. The incident, which happened Friday, in Grove City, saw officers attempt to pull over a car because the two teens inside it, a 17-year-old girl and a 14-year-old girl, were suspected of shoplifting, according to Grove City Police Lt. Jason Stern. Central Ohio students learn about civil engagement According to police, the driver did not stop for the officer. Stern said the teen went on to hit seven other cars in the area of Stringtown Road and Buckeye Parkway. 'What may have started as a theft traffic stop or suspected shoplifting stop changed immediately to, OK, now we've got a real violent encounter, we've got someone who's rammed civilians, that's significant violence,' Stern said. After a few minutes, an officer successfully used stop sticks on the car around State Route 665 and Borror Road. Stern said that at that point, the driver and passenger ran away on foot. A Columbus Division of Police helicopter and K9 unit were used to look for them. The 14-year-old passenger gave herself up, according to police, but the driver kept running into the woods and hiding. 'For the last at least five years, you can track all over central Ohio — and Franklin County in particular — you can track an escalation of juvenile violence, where what used to be just shoplifting is now ramming vehicles and fleeing,' Stern said. Stern said the 17-year-old was found in a creek with her one-year-old baby. He said that was the first time officers realized a baby had been with the driver — the child's mother — for the whole situation. 'It's heartbreaking for anybody that's got a conscience,' Stern said. 'Imagine the emotions, you're up here dealing with that level of violence and that type of response and then you're switching gear to care for a child that just about drowned, there's a lot going on there and it just breaks everybody's heart because that child didn't pick this.' Police said no one, including the baby, was hurt in the incident. The baby is now in the care of other relatives, according to Franklin County Children Services. The 17-year-old mother is charged with obstructing official business, failure to comply with order or signal of a police officer, endangering children, and several traffic offenses including hit-skip. The 14-year-old passenger was charged with obstructing official business. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Solve the daily Crossword
Daily Mail
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
British comedian faces up to three years in a Turkish prison after she forgot to pay at a Zara store
A British comedian faces up to three years in Turkish prison after walking out of a Zara store without paying - despite going back to apologise when she realised her mistake. Cerys Nelmes, a stand-up comic from the Cotswolds, was shopping at the clothing store in Istanbul on July 22 when she says she absentmindedly left before ringing up her purchases. She claims she returned to the store to hand back the items and offered to pay, but was instead detained, locked in a room for hours without explanation, and eventually arrested for shoplifting. Ms Nelmes said she was taken to a police station, pressured to sign documents in a language she could not read, and held in a cell for 24 hours with no food, toilet or water. The comedian, who once played a paramedic in medical drama Casualty, said: 'I was told they didn't understand me.' The next day, she was brought before a judge who released her but banned her from leaving the country. She now faces a potential three-year sentence as the case proceeds. Nelmes says she is stranded in Turkey, unable to afford accommodation and missing out on work back home, putting her and her son at risk of losing their UK home. She said: 'I'm ok and have been taken in by a Turkish family who gave me food and a bed.' Ms Nelmes describes herself on her website as a 'leading mc on the comedy circuit' and regularly gigs for the UK military - including being the last comedian to perform for UK troops before they withdrew from Afghanistan. Her acting roles have included Casualty and JK Rowling's The Casual Vacancy. Alongside her comedy performances, she also made headlines in April 2019 when she saved a fellow diner from choking at a restaurant before a gig. The comedian was grabbing a bite to eat in Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire, when she peformed the Heimlich manoeuvre to dislodge a prawn that was stuck in a woman's throat. In a post on social media speaking about her detention and subsequent stranding in Turkey, she said: 'On Tuesday I left a Zara store in Istanbul without paying for items. 'I returned straight away and handed the items to staff. I was asked to pay and I said I would and the manager accepted this. 'To cut a long story short I was then taken to a locked room where hours later after no communication from anyone I was taken away by police and held in a police station and was asked to sign things I couldn't read. 'I was put in a prison cell for 24 hours with no food or toilet facilities. When I asked for water, I was told they didn't understand me. 'I was handcuffed and taken for fingerprints and mugshots at 3am. I was handcuffed and taken to court the following day and put in a cell. 'I appeared before the judge and was told by a translator that I was released, but unable to leave Turkey for an undetermined amount of time. 'He said I was lucky to not be put in prison but I currently face up to three years. I have to report to a local police station every Monday. 'I am lucky I have good friends in Turkey who are currently looking after me, and trying to translate the paperwork. 'I have no money, no earnings coming in from home, and I am running out of important medication. I will lose my home which I share with my son, and livelihood. 'I am not looking for sympathy. I made a mistake which I tried to immediately rectify. I am embarrassed for my friends, my family, and I have made my 78-year-old mum unwell. I will never forgive myself for what I have done.' An Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office spokesperson said: 'We are providing support to a British national in Turkey.'
Telegraph
2 days ago
- Telegraph
Romanian ‘girl gang' member stole £120k of Boots cosmetics
A Romanian mother who stole perfume and cosmetics in a £120,000 shoplifting spree at Boots has been jailed for 32 months. Bianca Mirica, 20, admitted 30 charges of theft from branches of the high street chemist across London between December 2023 and May last year as part of an organised gang of female thieves. Mirica has three previous convictions for similar offences dating back to her arrival in the UK five years ago, Southwark Crown Court heard. She stole almost £17,000 worth of items in one thieving expedition at Boots in Hornchurch, east London, on March 7 last year. On another occasion she made off with 10 Yves Saint Laurent concealers, totalling £300. She previously admitted to 30 counts of theft relating to goods worth £119,318 stolen from Boots at locations across London including Islington, the West End, Kensington, Harrow and Haringey. Mirica, who has three children, appeared on a video-link from HMP Bronzefield with her month-old baby in her arms. She was assisted throughout the hearing by a Romanian interpreter at the jail. Ben Wild, prosecuting, earlier said the offences related to ' group shoplifting from December 2023 to May 2024'. He said: 'None of the goods were recovered, all of the goods relate to fragrances or cosmetics. Effectively, it involves groups of apparently Romanian females concealing the products in long skirts or pockets, distracting security.' The court heard that on the occasion of the most high-value theft, Mirica was 'clearly seen equipped with a cabinet key' used to access a number of expensive products that were locked away. Scott Tuppen, defending, said earlier that Mirica has three young children, one whom suffers from a significant heart issue. He claimed her husband provides a 'firm financial footing' for the family and referred to his client's 'remorse' for committing the thefts. Sentencing Mirica, Judge Sally-Ann Hales KC, said: 'You are now 20 years old. You were 19 when you committed these offences. 'The pre-sentence report indicates you arrived in the UK approximately five years ago. You have accrued three convictions for five offences – all are offences of theft or going equipped for theft. They all relate to very similar offences of shoplifting.' The judge said Mirica had been 'largely uncooperative' with police in interview following her arrest. She said Mirica 'denied involvement in a broader criminal enterprise' and claimed the goods were for 'personal use', which she ruled was 'patently untrue'. Judge Hales added: 'In short, you sought to minimise your offending and showed little if any insight into your behaviour. I very much doubt you are sorry for committing these offences. Over a period of six months, you've committed 18 organised and high-value thefts. 'You were brazen about it – walking into a store, clearing the shelves or a cabinet, and walking out.' Mirica, of Haringey, was given 32 months immediate imprisonment and will serve 40 per cent of the term at the mothers-and-babies unit at HMP Bronzefield before being released on licence. She appeared unmoved as she was sentenced. The court will consider an application for a criminal behaviour order against Mirica on Sept 8.
Daily Mail
2 days ago
- Daily Mail
Romanian mother who went on a £120,000 shoplifting spree across London stuffing perfumes and cosmetics down her skirt is jailed for 32 months
A Romanian mother who shoplifted £120,000 worth of perfume and cosmetics from Boots by stuffing the items down her skirt has been jailed for 32 months. Bianca Mirica, 20, was part of an organised gang of female thieves who used various tactics to raid stores across London. One gang member would distract security while the others 'cleared the shelves' before simply walking out, Southwark Crown Court heard. And on one occasion, Mirica was spotted using a small key to open a locked cabinet filled with expensive products. Following her arrest the mother-of-three denied she was part of a gang and told police that all the make-up and perfumes were for personal use. But the she later admitted 30 counts of theft from branches of the high street chemist across London between December 2023 and May 2024, totalling £119,318. Mirica, who has three previous convictions for similar offences dating back to her arrival in Britain five years ago, snatched £17,000 worth of items in one raid on a Boots in Hornchurch, east London, on March 7 last year. And on another expedition the Romanian national took ten Yves Saint Laurent concealers worth £300. None of the goods she stole have been recovered, Ben Wild, prosecuting, said. Mirica appeared via videolink from HMP Bronzefield wearing a red t-shirt and rocking her month-old baby in her arms. Sentencing Mirica, Judge Sally-Ann Hales, KC, said: 'You are now 20 years old, you were 19 when you committed these offences. 'The pre-sentence report indicates you arrived in the UK approximately five years 6 November 2019 and 24 September 2024 you have accrued three convictions for five offences - all are offences of theft or going equipped for theft. 'They all relate to very similar offences of shoplifting.' The judge said the mother-of-three had been 'largely uncooperative' with police in interview following her arrest. 'You denied involvement in a broader criminal enterprise, you claimed that the goods stolen were for your personal use and that you made no financial gain. 'In short, you sought to minimise your offending and showed little if any insight into your behaviour. 'Your suggestion that you stole the goods for personal grooming purposes is patently untrue.' She added: 'Like the author of the pre-sentence report, I very much doubt you are sorry for committing these offences. 'Over a period of six months you've committed 18 organised and high value thefts. 'You were brazen about it. Walking into a store, clearing the shelves or a cabinet and walking out. 'Such offences can impact on morale of retail staff, and ultimately may result in loss of revenue being passed on to other customers by increases in prices.' Mirica's offending comes amid a surge in shoplifting, with the British Retail Consortium estimating shop thefts reached 20million last year, up four million on 2023. The cost to stores is estimated at £2.2billion. Mirica will serve 40 per cent of her sentence at the mothers and babies unit at HMP Bronzefield, which houses Lucy Letby and Constance Marten, before she is released on licence. Her two other children, aged three and 18 months, have been sent back to Romania to be looked after by friends and family.
