Shoplifting has edged down, but retailers are facing a worrying rise in crimes involving violence and intimidation.
A small fall in recorded shoplifting was accompanied by a sharp increase in business robberies, suggesting that some retail thefts are becoming more aggressive in what has been described as ‘Wild West Britain’.
Official figures show that recorded robberies rose by 10 per cent in a year, reaching 88,282 incidents — the highest total recorded since before the coronavirus pandemic.
Business robberies climbed by 67 per cent to more than 31,000, marking a record high. By contrast, robberies involving personal property fell by 7 per cent, to approximately 57,000 cases.
The Association of Convenience Stores (ACS) believes the surge may partly reflect the increasingly violent behaviour seen during some shoplifting offences, with police potentially classifying them as robberies instead.
The number of recorded shoplifting offences fell by 2 per cent to 519,516, after reaching a near-record level the previous year.
The ACS said: ‘The significant rise in robberies is likely to be linked to changes in how certain offences are recorded, with incidents previously classified as shoplifting now being logged as robbery.’
Chief executive Ed Woodall said: ‘We are deeply concerned by the changing nature of theft targeting retailers. Criminals are growing more confident and brazen, and their offences are ultimately becoming more violent.’
Three armed robbers carried out a daylight raid on a family-run jeweller, stealing gems worth £225,000 in January
The figures come after three armed robbers from Essex were jailed for 15 years in July following a daylight raid on a family-run jewellery shop, where they stole gemstones valued at £225,000.
Deniz Mehmet, 28, Lee Ramsey, 46, and Robert Clarke, 50, were captured on video smashing their way into Gregory & Co in Richmond, south-west London, in January.
Witnesses filmed the attack, and the footage later spread online. It showed members of staff bravely confronting the robbers before the group fled on foot.
One attacker, dressed in dark clothing with his hood up, repeatedly struck the jeweller’s large glass frontage until it shattered and was pulled away.
Another man, also dressed in dark clothes, waited with a large blue Ikea bag, which was filled with watches, bracelets and other jewellery.
Staff attempted to intervene, but the three men escaped on foot as terrified members of the public watched, fearing for their own safety.
Clarke, from Rochford, Ramsey, from Harlow, and Mehmet, from Basildon, admitted conspiracy to rob. Each was sentenced to five years and three months in prison.
In another case, police arrested suspected burglars who attempted to tunnel into a jewellery shop after investigators connected them to a series of break-ins involving more than £700,000 in losses.
Officers intercepted the men at 3.12am on July 17 as they allegedly tried to enter the premises in Tooting, south London.
Video showed police catching up with the suspects as they retreated through the tunnel. They later pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit burglary with intent to steal and cause criminal damage.
Laurentiu-Daniel Nitisoara, 38, was arrested in a nearby alley, while officers later found Ioan Asafeti, 39, hiding on a rooftop.
The third member of the gang, Sergiu Plastin, 42, was arrested later that day as he attempted to flee to Ireland from Stansted airport.
The group, who mainly targeted jewellers using tunnels to access shops overnight while bypassing security systems between May and July, will be sentenced at Kingston Crown Court today.
Algerian migrant Txomin Huare-Place, 31, who ripped a £65,000 Patek Philippe watch from the wrist of Tim Hortons restaurant chain boss Alex Schwan, was jailed for almost three years.
Txomin Huare-Place, 31, was jailed for two years and nine months for stealing a £60k watch from the wrist of a Canadian tourist in West London
Mr Schwan had been accompanying his wife to an auction at Sotheby’s in Mayfair after watching a Wimbledon match when Huare-Place struck on June 30, 2024.
The thief, already serving six years behind bars when he received the sentence, inflicted ‘intense pain’ on his victim as he yanked at the Aquanaut Travel model.
He is a member of one of the ‘Rolex Ripper’ gangs that have terrorised wealthy tourists in London’s West End.
Huare-Place, who earlier admitted robbery, shut his eyes as he was jailed for two years and nine months, to run consecutively to his six-year term.
He has several previous convictions, including two similar watch robberies in June last year.
Fellow Algerian migrant Ahmed Djidi, 27, was jailed for 22 months in 2025 for his involvement in the theft of Mr Schwan’s watch.
An average of £1million worth of watches are snatched from people’s wrists every month in London’s West End, the Metropolitan Police revealed.
