What is it that drives people to shoplift items they …...TV chef Antony Worrall Thompson was last week cautioned for stealing cheese and wine from Tesco 16 times in ﬁve days, blaming

What is it that drives people to shopliftitems they don't need?By Katy Weitz 17/01/2012 (http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-stories/2012/01/17/)Decrease font size Increase font size

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Shoplifting can be a cry for help (Pictured posed by model)

They appear respectable, from stable families with good jobs, yet they are part of a growingtrend of comfortably off people who cannot resist the urge to steal from shops.

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TV chef Antony Worrall Thompson was last week cautioned for stealing cheese and winefrom Tesco 16 times in five days, blaming childhood abuse for his actions.

With shoplifters stealing goods every seven minutes and £147million of goods swiped in theUK in 2011, one study has found well-off shoplifters are targeting high-end delicacies tomaintain a lifestyle they can no longer afford, then using the recession to justify theiractions.

But, according to psychologists, at least a third of shoplifters blame their crime on theiremotional issues rather than simply a desire for free goods.

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“Most people who steal high-end items try and rationalise their actions,” explains cognitivehypnotherapist Lysette Offley. “They might take some luxury cheese and think ʻitʼs paybacktime, itʼs not fair I canʼt afford thisʼ.

“Really, itʼs an unconscious way to make them feel better for their loss of status. Othersmight choose healthier ways to deal with these emotions, by going for a run or talking to afriend.”

Abigail Reece distinctly recalls the first time she stole. She was a 24-year-old single mum toher son Harry, two, and after dropping him off at nursery she was browsing in a book storewhen she was overtaken by an impulse to steal.

“It came from nowhere,” says Abigail, now 32. “I wondered – could I do it? “I replaced onebook on the shelf and slid the other in my handbag. By the time I got out I felt this strangehigh.

“The stupid thing was that Iʼd already read the book I stole. At the time, it was a cry for help.”

This event was to mark the start of a shoplifting spree that would last four months, duringwhich Abigail stole on more than 50 separate occasions.

The well-off shoplifter is not a new phenomenon – only around 3% steal for profit. The restdo so as a response to personal or social pressures.

Men and women from every class, ethnicity and income bracket are being caught, althougha third are under 18 and half are between 18 and 35.

Abigail had split with Harryʼs father but drifted into a violent relationship. Her new partnermoved in after a couple of months and started dictating her life. She wasnʼt allowed to wearmake-up or jewellery, see her friends or even diet to lose her baby weight.

Until then, Abigail had been an independent woman making her way in the hospitalitybusiness, but she became a single mum trapped in an abusive relationship. With her self-worth low, stealing became an escape.

“At first I stuck to small, independent shops and market stalls, which arenʼt big on security,”she says. “Iʼd pick up bangles and put them on my wrist. Iʼd take most of them off, but notall, and walk away. Nobody ever noticed.

“The crazy thing was I couldnʼt wear any of it at home because my boyfriend wouldnʼt letme. So all my loot was stashed in my bottom drawer.”


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Antony Worrall Thompson

Unknown to Abigail, her illegal acts were a classic example of shoplifting to reflect deeperpersonal problems. Lysette explains: “Only a very small percentage of those who shoplifthave a mental disorder like kleptomania.

"Mostly itʼs normal people – many over 55 – dealing with a lot of stress. Often there can bea link with what theyʼve stolen and whatʼs goingon in their life.”

Abigail had no idea why she was doing it. “There was a rush at first but after that it was easyand, as the situation at home got worse, my shoplifting increased,” she says.

Abigail then started stealing from supermarkets every other day.

“Iʼd go with my large handbag over my shoulder and the basket in the elbow of the samearm,” she says. “One tin would go into the basket, another would go in my bag.

"By the time I left Iʼd have about five to 10 items in my bag, the same amount Iʼd bought.Sometimes it was alcohol but mostly it was the most ridiculous stuff like tins of beans, anapple or a jar of marmalade.

“By then, the high of stealing had gone – I think I wanted to get caught. I wanted someone


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to know how bad it was at home. I wasnʼt even that discreet and even did it with my sonthere.”

Abigail once walked into a large store and smuggled out a jewellery box in her sonʼs pram.

“None of it was planned,” she says. “Looking back now, I canʼt believe that I put my son atrisk. I was at rock bottom.”

Abigail finally summoned up the courage to kick out her abusive boyfriend and was forcedto report him to the police after he started harassing her. It was then she got the shock ofher life – her ex was in fact a convicted sex attacker.

“Suddenly I realised the unbelievably stupid risks Iʼd taken. What if Iʼd been prosecuted? Myson could have been taken into care. I got counselling afterwards to deal with the falloutfrom the relationship, but I didnʼt even dare tell my counsellor about the shoplifting for fear Icould be locked up.”

The stealing stopped overnight and Abigail came back to earth with a crash.

“I felt overwhelming remorse for what Iʼd done and the only way I could think to makeamends was to take all the things Iʼd stolen to a charity shop.”

Mum-of-two Abigail is now happily married and has never told her husband or family of hershoplifting days. “Before then Iʼd never broken the law – I wouldnʼt even run a red light,” shesays.

“The problem is that people are more judgmental about shoplifting as a cry for help – if Iʼdbeen anorexic or self-harmed everyone would be sympathetic.”

The shame linked with shoplifting even stopped beautician Diane Brooke, 45, from askingher doctor for help with an ongoing problem. The grandmother-of-one has been caughtshoplifting six times and fears that itʼs only a matter of time before she is sent to prison.

“The last time I got a fine but I really thought they might send me down,” she says.

“The thought terrifies me but in some ways I feel it might be the only thing that makes mestop. I know I need help but Iʼm too ashamed to tell our family doctor.

“I still donʼt know what possesses me to do it – I can be out with £100 in my purse and stealsomething worth a pound. Last time I got caught nicking two lipsticks from Superdrug.

“They prosecuted me and even searched my house for other goods. My poor husband –heʼs got a good job as an engineer and he was mortified. I ended up paying a £200 fine. Itʼsso ridiculous, but I donʼt know how to stop.”

Experts say shoplifting adds about £180 to the average familyʼs annual shopping bill interms of the extra costs to goods, security and legal proceedings by retailers.

There were just over 305,905 recorded occasions of shoplifting in England and Wales lastyear, down slightly from the year before. But it is estimated that the perpetrator is caught in


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only 1% of retail theft cases.

Lysette says: “Itʼs not easy to say why one person would steal when another would deal withtheir problems another way. All we can do is help them deal with the underlying stress tostop them repeating their harmful patterns in the future.”

● Abigail and Diane have changed their names.

antony worrall thompson (http://www.mirror.co.uk/tags/antony-worrall-thompson/) ,shoplifting (http://www.mirror.co.uk/tags/shoplifting/)

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What is it that drives people to shoplift items they …...TV chef Antony Worrall Thompson was last week cautioned for stealing cheese and wine from Tesco 16 times in ﬁve days, blaming