Southend: Repeat offenders left with no choice but to admit their crimes

An operation dedicated to targeting repeat offenders in Southend city centre has seen every case brought to court prosecuted successfully.

 

Southend Town Centre Team launched Operation Raker last September to target persistent offenders responsible for thefts, assaults and public order offences.

 

Since then, two officers have been dedicated to working with Southend City Council’s community safety officers, BID (Business Improvement District) Rangers and retailers to identify and arrest individuals and prevent their offending from escalating.

 

To date, 32 repeat and prolific offenders have been brought before the courts to answer for their crimes, which are mostly shop thefts and breaches of court-imposed criminal behaviour orders.

 

In less than a year, the Op Raker team has secured almost 500 charges and convictions in 55 cases.

 

And courts have imposed a combined total of almost 12 years of custodial sentences and 13 suspended, community or rehabilitative sentences in 46 of those cases.

 

Seven new criminal behaviour orders have also been imposed on prolific offenders, with a variety of conditions. These can include bans from stores they target and requirements to attend drug and alcohol treatment courses, which help to address their offending behaviour. Breaching one is an offence which can result in a jail term.

 

Currently, nine offenders are remanded in prison or are on bail pending sentencing.

 

Those convicted in the past couple of months include:

• Tommy Collinson, 37, was convicted last week and remanded in custody for sentencing after admitting 14 shop thefts and seven charges of breaching a criminal behaviour order imposed in April 2023. And several suspended
• James Coleman, 35, was jailed for a year after admitting 11 shop thefts and breaching his criminal behaviour order, imposed in March 2023.
• David Knight, 41, was jailed for 38 weeks after admitting to 16 shop thefts. Part of his sentence included the activation of a 12-week suspended sentence imposed by Sussex Central Magistrates’ Court in March 2024.
• Lloyd Miller, 33, was jailed for four months and made the subject of a three-year criminal behaviour order banning him from all Co-op and BP stores in Essex, the One Stop in Spa Road, Hockley, and The Range in London Road, Southend. He was convicted of 25 thefts.

Operation Raker is coordinated by Sergeant Steve Wells, of the Southend Town Centre Team.

He says:

“Thanks to our close working with city retailers, the city council and the BID team, offenders have been left with no choice but to plead guilty and face the consequences of their crimes.
“The provision of witness statements and CCTV footage has been instrumental to our evidence-gathering and it is this which has enabled our officers to present such strong cases at court.”

Operation Raker was born after research showed a significant proportion of crimes in retail premises - such as thefts and assaults - were being committed by repeat offenders.

Sergeant Wells says focusing on these offenders is paying off for everyone.

“We all share knowledge and information which has led to our officers being able to arrest suspects more quickly and this, in turn, has meant individuals committing fewer offences than they were previously.
“Fewer offences mean fewer victims of crime and fewer retailers exposed to losses. Shop theft is not a victimless crime because, somewhere along the line, someone has to pay for those losses.
“All of this work is making our city centre a safer place to work and shop for everyone.”

Scott Dolling, manager of Southend BID, adds:

“We are delighted to see the continuing progress with Operation Raker which is helping to tackle persistent offenders of retail crime.
“The Business Improvement District team works closely with the police and will continue to assist with cases where our rangers come into contact with criminals. This operation is very welcomed by the business community in reducing the challenges that we face.”  

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