Mum shoplifting in Tesco

[1000yellowdaisies]

Not so much an Aibu but its bothering me.
I was in tesco before, just arrived and was faffing about near the entrance getting a scan as you shop scanner thing.
A lady was leaving the shop and the alarms went off. Security took her to one side and found she was leaving with stuff she hadn't paid for. The security guard and 3 staff from the customer service kiosk went through her push chair and when they found more unpaid for stuff they took her through to the back.
Her child was roughly same age as my youngest.

I feel sorry for her. Yes I know she could be a thieving chancer with enough money but she wasn't nicking luxuries like bottles of booze, it was nappies and calpol from what i saw. What will likely happen to her? She looked so embarrassed.

The police will likely called and involve social services who hopefully will put some support in place or ensure she has adequate supplies of these things. It’s highly unlikely a judge or the police will come dow hard on a mum trying meet her babies needs of financially she is unable to. Poor lady my heart goes out to her.

A sign of the times

They might not have called the police, they could've just banned her from the shop.

Very embarrassing for her and sad that she had to do that ☹️

Impossible to say without knowing the full circs. There are a lot of professional shoplifters around, and ultimately we all pay the price.

People have stolen those kind of things for years, it's why security keep an extra eye on buggies. It's a shame but it's been happening a long time.

Nothing will happen to her if it's under a certain amount because it's a civil recovery and not worth the hassle.

We are seeing this in retail more often and sometimes it's genuine people who can't afford things but others are professionals who steal to order and they use kids in prams as a ruse thinking it makes them look less suspicious. The professionals know they'll shift items like nappies, baby milk etc and they know they've got a chance of getting away with it if they are good enough actresses and can shed a tear on cue.

If she’s stealing nappies and calpol, hopefully they’ll give her a few other basics. Supermarkets are all for encouraging their customers to buy their stock to donate to those in need, I see no reason they can’t do so directly. Unfortunately I doubt that’s likely.

This reminds me when I was a young mum. We had no money, no one to borrow off, no help and had 2 weeks till payday.
I needed nappies we had 3 left and so I stole some under my pushchair and prayed nobody saw me as I walked out of that door. I know it was wrong but I had no choice, I would of paid for it for her. It's horrific being in that situation and I imagine this is just the start of what's to come.

Tesco always prosecute in our area to deter thieves.

They very often let them leave the first couple of times whilst they repeatedly film them on numerous visits to get enough evidence to show intent and not a ‘oops I forgot to pay as I was distracted’ moment.
Calpol (or equivalent) could be given free if need be.
minor ailment scheme

I don't know where you live but if you can get police to a supermarket for theft then you are very lucky. This is why you see signs upon store entrances saying they operate a civil recovery process.

Expect she will just get banned. We see it all the time. And it’s definitely got worse the last couple of months.

Hopefully she will get some help as a result of this.

Very sad.

Lots of thieves are professionals who then zell stuff on.
It is not just things like booze etc.
Meat, nappies, baby formula, cheese, medicines and so on.
All gets sold on.
Some are genuine, but loads are profi ones.

With the amount of foodbanks and charities around helping, people should be able to access help.

Unfortunatly whilst this could be a mum in need it could also be a professional shoplifter using the kid as a ploy to not be stopped. It may not even be her child.

My DD works at one of the main supermarkets, she says there's loads of shoplifting, mostly booze & meat. They have regular shoplifters & the only thing they can do is ban them from the shop, but they usually (try to) come back. The police aren't interested particularly since the economy crashed. Sounds awful but they're too busy with other things to be bothered with supermarket shoplifters.

I wouldn’t feel too sorry for her… maybe I’m cynical but I know too many people who sell shoplifted nappies, calpol, washing detergent, steak, dishwasher tablets.

She was probably taking it home to add to a big prize for those stupid Facebook raffles the professional shoplifters do.

I don’t think they call the Police if it’s under £100. Could be an urban myth so don’t quote me.

Or down my local wetherspoons pub.

"oi love do you want some cheap bacon ?"

They generally don't, unless it's a prolific shoplifter they have been trying to catch for some time

This happened to someone I knew, though she didn't have children and she stole toiletries.

She was told she should accept a caution. She wouldn't. Finally she admitted she'd swapped the price tags and just as she was about to explain why, they charged her. She had to pay £750 in all. The item she stole was £3. (It was about 20 years ago.)

This wasn’t what I expected from the title. I fully expected to hear of a little old Nan shoplifting due to Alzheimer’s.

That said, it is a sign of the times. Times that seem to come and go only to come round again. I hope if she was desperate she is getting a referral to a food bank.

We once had an off duty police officer witness a theft and he knew the bloke because he was a prolific shoplifter and still nothing was done. There's absolutely no repercussions for theft and they know it, people like you pay for it not them.

Good for you. I genuinely mean that. You did the right thing. Hope things are better now 💐