The Met Commissioner has blamed the shoplifting epidemic on storekeepers – insisting they ‘don’t report anything’ and ‘need to do better’.
Sir Mark Rowley was questioned by the Home Affairs Committee today on thieves who regularly ‘clear whole shelves’ and walk out of shops without paying.
It follows a 20 per cent rise in shoplifting last year – with police recording 530,643 offences in England and Wales.
However, Sir Mark has now placed the blame on shopkeepers, despite MPs questioning him over a lack over the lack of prosecutions.
The police chief said: ‘We’re determined to bear down on this. I recognise a very variable response from shops to shoplifting in their premises.
‘We encourage them all to report it and the good stores have got really good security regimes and report it and help us out in ways that I’ll come to in a moment. Some stores don’t.’
He then added: ‘Some of them don’t report anything, if we go there they don’t give us the CCTV of the crime, they won’t give us any statements, they don’t give their staff time to give statements and they don’t pay their staff to go to court to give evidence.’
MP Joani Reid was seen frowning at the response after having informed Sir Mark that staff had told her they ‘don’t bother’ to report thefts anymore.
Sir Mark Rowley (pictured) was questioned by the Home Affairs Committee today on thieves who regularly ‘clear whole shelves’ and walk out of shops without paying
MP Joani Reid (pictured) was seen frowning at the response after having informed Sir Mark that staff had told her they ‘don’t bother’ to report thefts anymore
She added: ‘They’ve stopped reporting it because there’s no point’.
Ms Reid said she had witnessed a man raiding a store just this morning.
She said: ‘We’re not talking about one or two goods but he cleared the whole shelves, put them into a trolley and walked out the shop.’
Another MP, Margaret Mullane, later said: ‘I represent an outer London borough and shoplifting is prolific.
‘The shops are also cleared regularly around my seat.’
But Sir Mark doubled down on claims.
He said: ‘I have challenged some sectors of the retail section to do better.’
The Commissioner admitted some national chains – like ‘Boots’ – were ‘fantastic’ and ‘very serious about shoplifting normally’.
Last week it emerged thieves were pinching pinching ‘posh eggs’ by putting them in boxes of economy-range ones before heading to the checkout
He claimed: ‘We’re close to doubling the number of shoplifters we are prosecuting, we are using criminal behaviour orders to control the most dangerous offenders.’
Sir Mark added the Met is working with a group of ‘major retailers’ alongside a technology company to ‘identify prolific shoplifters’.
Last week it emerged thieves were pinching pinching ‘posh eggs’ by putting them in boxes of economy-range ones before heading to the checkout.
One customer, Anita Wong, 53, discovered the ruse after purchasing a £4.50 ten-pack of eggs from her local Waitrose.
Upon opening the packaging, the Ealing resident found the premium eggs had been swapped for a cheaper, standard variety.
In a video posted on Instagram, she later said: ‘This is what’s happening in a lot of supermarkets at the moment.
‘The more expensive eggs, people are actually decanting those into the less expensive egg boxes and buying them so the people who are buying the more expensive eggs are unwillingly buying the less expensive eggs.’
According to the most recent Office for National Statistics figures available, 530,643 shoplifting offences were reported in England and Wales for the year ending March 2025, a 20 per cent increase on the previous year and the highest figure since records began in 2003.
Cages have been introduced to protect staff and their goods – which include vape bars, tobacco and alcohol
According to the British Retail Consortium, losses from customer theft reached a record £2.2billion in 2023/24, with retailers investing £1.8billion on security measures such as CCTV last year.
Few shoplifters are prosecuted, with the Metropolitan Police reporting only 5.9 per cent of shoplifting incidents recorded by them led to a charge in the year ending March 2025.
The Daily Mail also revealed last summer that shoplifting is now so bad Sainsbury’s staff are serving customers from inside cages with metal grating.
The prison-like security measure – dubbed ‘an indictment of British social decay’ – was put in place at Battersea Riverlight Local.
Cages were introduced to protect staff and their goods – which include vape bars, tobacco and alcohol.
Shoppers took to social media at the time to express their concern at the change.
Tom Sharpe said: ‘I can’t understand why this is being accepted. It certainly shouldn’t be. Is there anyone arguing for law and order?’
Another person claimed the glass encasement was ‘not as bad as the Tesco ones’.
