Hartlepool MP Jonahan Brash calls for tougher sentences for shoplifters

Speaking in a debate on the issue in the House of Commons, Mr Brash said offenders who go straight back to stealing after serving “often all too short” sentences should be dealt with more strongly.

He relayed experiences of Hartlepool shop workers to Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood and said they could anticipate “almost to the week” when shoplifters would strike again.

Mr Brash said: “Retail workers in my constituency tell me they can predict almost to the week when somebody will arrive at their store to begin shoplifting again after their often times all too short sentence.

"Does the Justice Secretary agree with me and them that the solution to hyper-prolific offending must be longer sentences, in certain cases?”

Ms Mahmood said the Government was “determined to clamp down” on shoplifting with the removal of a £200 value threshold, which means offences can only be dealt with in the magistrates’ court.

She added: “The length of sentences and how to deal with the problem of prolific offending will be looked at specifically by the independent Sentencing Review Panel.”

Meanwhile, shops in Hartlepool town centre are being urged to take part in a new where they can alert each other to shoplifting by radio.

The Shop Watch scheme sees premises given free radios for a year that can be used by staff and links them to the council’s CCTV control room.

The subscription cost of the radios is being covered by Hartlepool Borough Council with funding from the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF).

It is a pot of money provided by the Government and administered locally by Tees Valley Combined Authority.

The UKSPF money can only be spent in the town centre area.

Councillor Karen Oliver, chair of the council’s neighbourhood services committee, said: “Shoplifting is a major issue and a blight on the town and I would urge those shops which are eligible for a free radio to take up the offer.

“A number of radios have already been taken up by shops, but I would ask others when contacted to do likewise.”

Further information is available at www.apexradio.co.uk/shopwatch-and-pubwatch/.