Shoplifters ‘should escape jail’
Shoplifters should only be sent to jail if they used violence during their crime, the Sentencing Advisory Panel has recommended.
The body responsible for advising on sentencing guidelines said that people guilty of a “standard offence” of stealing from a shop should not get more than a community order unless there were “aggravating factors”.
It suggests a possible alternative, where repeat offenders could be given a jail term of a maximum of eight weeks, but the idea that the vast majority of shoplifters should avoid jail has prompted anger from the Conservatives.
It comes as the government looks at ways to reduce the prison population, and shadow home affairs minister Edward Garnier warned that this drive must not lead to more lenient sentences.
“These proposals represent a significant softening of the punishment for shoplifting. The law-abiding public expects that people stealing from shops should be properly punished, particularly if they are persistent offenders,” he said.
“We need to avoid a situation where the proper custodial deterrents for shoplifting are reduced to mere occupational hazards like small fines and conditional discharges.
“The government has not provided enough prison places and, as a result, is having to release prisoners early or not send them to prison in the first place.”
The advisory panel’s consultation paper reveals that a significant proportion of shoplifters – 27 per cent – who come before the courts are already being given community sentences, with more than half getting community rehabilitation orders.
The same proportion receives an absolute or conditional discharge, 22 per cent receive a fine and just one fifth – 21 per cent – are remanded in custody, the majority of them for less than three months.
Commenting on the proposals, Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman Mark Hunter welcomed the emphasis on community service but insisted this must be a real punishment.
“We need a better system of public service sentences for low-level offenders like shoplifters, not just fines and cautions. These offenders should be out working for the community – painting, litter picking, planting trees, cleaning up graffiti,” he said.
“They need to do visible work to make life better for the community they’ve harmed with their crime.”
