Panel says go easier on shoplifters

At the same time, the Sentencing Advisory Panel is considering scrapping prison sentences for shoplifters. But the plans have been branded as “seriously flawed” by the British Retail Consortium which reports that sixty per cent of violent incidents that happen in stores occur when staff attempt to deter criminals or protect property from theft.

The advisory panel proposals include replacing prison sentences with on the spot fines and community orders, even for persistent offenders.

But the BRC says the proposals are seriously flawed because community orders and fines will not rehabilitate offenders and will leave them on the street to target stores.

They also say shoplifting is not a petty crime. It has amounted to £767 million worth of theft in 2005. It has risen by 70 per cent since 2000 despite £4.3 billion spent on security;

On the spot fines have already been adopted for first time offenders but this has been misused with fines being incorrectly issued to repeat offenders, says the BRC. Removing the threat of prison is removing the deterrent.

• In-store violence is a growing problem and has led to the development of a security system that can hear what is being said and give a monitoring operator the power to talk to the offender.

ID Technology Group's ID Guardian system allows staff at the touch of a button to activate a two-way audio transmission through the CCTV system. It triggers a listening device within the store to enable a remote operator to hear conversation and intervene through the store's PA system.

The company says 63 per cent of violence is verbal, 21 per cent threats and 16 per cent physical.

Just using cameras is only part of the solution, said Andrew Gillies, MD of ID Technology Group. "A person's body language may be calm but what they are saying may be abusive, threatening and offensive”.