shoplifting

[petandrews]

when u are caught shopliting and your details and photogragh are taken by the security men and the shoplifter is sent home without calling the police, does this mean they are going to send your detail to the police and 2 is he going to recieve a leter from the shop or from the police asking him to go to court?

[terambulan]

if police not involved, no prosecution; just a warning.

[CheekyChops]

He might do - I work in a small corner shop and we always get the photo from the CCTV cameras and call the police after. I know of a few people who have stolen from our shop and then been taken to court afterwards.

We have to do it this way because they normally leg it out of the door with whatever they have stolen before we can grab them!!

If it is a large store I would of thought that they would have called the Police at the time if the security men had already caught them though.

[paraffin]

You cannot be lawfully classified as a "shoplifter" unless you have either:

1. Been arrested, charged with Theft(Shop), and subsequently convicted at Court.
OR
2. Been arrested, admit the offence, and be given an official caution at a Police Station.

The shop is not empowered to refer to you as a shoplifter, therefore, unless they call the Police to have the matter dealt with, although they have a right to ban you for whatever.

Therefore you could not receive a notification to go to Court from the details you've given.

Also, the security staff did not have the authority to take your photo or details. That is something they should have called the Police to do. Lots of shops do this but are not lawfully entitled to.