Brentwood: Plain-clothes officer pounces on prolific shoplifter
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A prolific shoplifter who taunted staff at a BP garage before being floored by a plain-clothes officer has been sentenced to two and a half years in prison.
Scott Gambier, 46, of Ordnance Road, Enfield, was subject to a Criminal Behaviour Order (CBO) that prohibited him from entering the BP garage on Rayleigh Road, but he was subsequently caught on CCTV in the store on multiple occasions last summer.
His spate of thefts came to an abrupt end in early September when he was taken down by PC Jack Douglas of the Epping Forest and Brentwood Neighbourhood Policing Team (NPT).
PC Douglas was already in the store as part of a covert operation targeting shoplifters when Gambier entered, causing staff to raise the alarm.
Gambier was heard loudly dismissing the prospect of police arriving and began filling a shopping bag with M&S meat. Seconds later, PC Douglas wrestled Gambier to the ground and arrested him.
Gambier later pleaded guilty to 23 counts of shop theft and 22 breaches of his CBO.
He was sentenced to two years in prison at Basildon Crown Court with six months added to his sentence for breaching the terms of a suspended sentence he was given in April 2025.
Sergeant Jamie Shepherd of Epping Forest and Brentwood NPT said:
“Scott Gambier repeatedly targeted the BP garage and showed a brazen disregard for the law. He decided he’d ignore his CBO and now finds himself serving a considerable prison sentence.
“Shoplifting is not a victimless crime. It harms businesses and understandably infuriates law-abiding customers who witness it.
“We’ve been working with retailers to quickly identify suspects, and we’ve delivered training and streamlined the reporting process.
“We have also been running a plain-clothes operation to catch people committing theft and to act as a deterrent. If you go into a shop and start helping yourself to goods, the person watching you could be a covert officer.”
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