Using banning orders to crack down on shoplifters and protect retail staff

Our officers have arrested more than 260 people on suspicion of shoplifting so far this year.

And they have secured 453 charges of shop theft against 164 of them, plus a further 24 charges of assaulting a retail worker.

At court, we apply for criminal behaviour orders against persistent and prolific shoplifters. As well as banning them from the stores they target, CBOs can include conditions designed to divert criminals from the drug and alcohol addictions which can be the cause of their offending.

Bans often apply to a specific store or a specific chain of shops in Essex. Two people have recently been banned from store chains across England and Wales.

Arrests for shoplifting and associated offences are made by our officers locally but our specialist Business Crime Team has assisted teams to apply for the CBOs at court.

Sergeant Christian Denning, of the Business Crime Team, says:

“While being arrested, charged and brought before a court for shoplifting can be a huge wake-up call for some, other offenders steal persistently, often to pay for an addiction.
“We will ask the courts to impose criminal behaviour orders on such prolific offenders because we can seek various conditions, such as the requirement to attend drink or drugs treatment courses or a ban from the stores they target.
“In this way, we look to limit the damage such offending can have on retail staff and the stores themselves and prevent the cycle of reoffending from continuing by removing the root causes of offending.
“If an offender ignores a CBO, they can be put back before the court, which can impose a jail term, a fine or both, if they are convicted of breaching it. And this has been demonstrated several times already by the courts this year.”

Just last week, a man was jailed for 16 months after admitting to stealing almost £20,000 of goods from Boots and Next and several other shops in the Chelmsford and Colchester areas. He was also given a five-year CBO which bans him from Next stores in England and Wales and all Boots shops in Essex. Another man was given a suspended jail term for the part he played in the thefts.

Earlier in March, a Brentwood man was given a three-year CBO which bans him from entering any Holland and Barrett store in Essex and from entering Brentwood for the purpose of canvassing for money during that time.

He was also jailed for 28 days after admitting stealing more than £2,000 of items from Holland and Barrett in Brentwood High Street on two occasions and breaching a community protection notice which stated he was not allowed to ask residents or approach members of public in Brentwood asking them for money or food.

And a Chelmsford shoplifter was banned from John Lewis and Co-op stores in the city for two years after she repeatedly stole hundreds of pounds worth of items from them.

In February, a Clacton man was jailed for 76 weeks for ignoring a five-year CBO and continuing to shoplift. A new five-year CBO was also imposed by Chelmsford Crown Court. As well continuing his ban from entering various Co-op, Boots, Farmfoods and Marks & Spencer stores across Tendring, the new CBO bans him from entering the Asda and Morrisons stores in Clacton.

The man was also banned from driving for two years and 82 days and ordered to take an extended re-test after admitting charges of dangerous driving and other driving offences as well as five counts of shop theft and three of breaching the original CBO.

The same week, a prolific Clacton shoplifter was jailed for 41 weeks and issued with a five-year CBO, forbidding her from entering any Co-op, Fiveways, Iceland and Marks and Spencer store in England and Wales, any retail store within the Clacton public spaces protection order area, Costcutter in The Street, Little Clacton, and Sainsbury’s in St John’s Road, Clacton.

While in January, a persistent Southend shoplifter was banned from every BP garage and store across Essex for two years as well as from the Co-op store in Hamlet Court Road, Westcliff.

Between 1 January and 10 March 2025, 261 people were arrested on suspicion of shoplifting in Essex and 164 of those were charged with a total of 453 counts of shop theft, while 20 were charged with assaulting a retail worker, too.

Cases involving 46 people are still being investigated and 51 people received a caution, a community resolution or no further action was taken against them.

During 2024, our officers made 1,397 arrests for shop theft offences* in Essex, securing 2,545 charges**.

* Arrests for shop theft. This relates to the number of arrests our officers have made. A person may have been arrested more than once for theft from a shop during the time period. And they may have been arrested for more than one offence.

** Shop theft charges. This figure will not be the total number of shop theft charges which will be secured against people arrested during a specific time period.

While many are charged before being released from custody immediately following their arrest, some suspects will be released under investigation or bailed while officers continue investigating.

When an investigation is complete, a suspect may be charged or may have no further action taken against them.

So this figure will include charges relating to arrests made before the time period begins and won't include charges which are secured beyond the end of the time period but which related to arrests made during it.

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