My guess would be a few times, considering the confidence he had during the call and how he was able to sound like he was speaking to his manager. There was no background noise at the time either, I bet he was just calling me from his mobile at home! What a horrible person, no wonder he was so nice to me. He saw something in it for himself right from the start. I can only hope his position is maybe now questioned from the information they already have, and this will be followed up with a letter detailing his behaviour.

I definitely will be informing them of everything that happened. I'm sure they'll take an interest in why such a lengthy conversation was needed after the event, for a start. This could help to back up the subsequent phone call, which I unfortunately have no proof of other than the record of a call from a withheld number yesterday. Anyhow, I'll give them the information and how they choose to deal with it is up to them as I doubt I'll ever find out. The guy at HO did confirm the security staff are sub-contractors also. I'll update the thread if I get any further hassle or if I need advice about the letters from RLP. Just wanted to take the opportunity again to thank everyone for their help, advice and support. It is very much appreciated!

You're right and this is something I will do. I will detail the time of the discussion outside also so they can see how long it went on for since there was logically no reason for that discussion ever to have taken place. I suspect that RLP would still have written to me anyway even if I had paid this amount to the LP guy. I'm assuming it's his job to catch thieves but then ultimately up to Boots to pass the information on to either RLP and / or the police, however they're choosing to deal with it. I don't think this guy was looking to do me any favours by keeping RLP out of it (I'm not even sure he could do that anyway). The impression he very much gave me at the time was that 'he had the power' to decide the outcome of this but having had time to think about that, I can't imagine that right. Surely it's up to the store itself on the subsequent course of action? The LP guy obviously lives in the area and knows people. If these cases were all decided solely by the security people rather than the store itself then technically he could let off friends and family if they were seen stealing in the store, and there could be a conflict of interest issue there. And I have taken no offence to any advice given, I will absolutely be taking all of the very good advice I've had from the guys here. I can guarantee I'll never need advice on here (about shoplifting anyway) ever again!

I really am, everyone has spoken so much sense and not judged me at all. I never expected that, it's been brilliant to find a place with people who evidently have a lot of good advice to give. I'll be recommending it to anyone who's got any sort of legal issue, or any issue really, in the future! Other forums tend to have the odd one who'll make judgmental comments but not had that on here at all. I didn't find anything at all online about people who've been taken in by the police after initially being released so whilst it'll be a niggle with me for a while (and that's part of my punishment for doing this in the first place, I guess!), I'll just keep as calm as I can and try to speak common sense to myself. If it's never been done before (as far as I've been able to find out) then it's unlikely to happen with me. It's just hard not to think of myself as Most Wanted right now!

I remember the exact time and date of when we were outside talking, as I had to check the time for my next train. The discussion we were having would have been made full view of the cameras outside the store and it went on for easily 15 minutes, possibly longer. There will be footage of me making a call on my phone to ask my gran to lend me some money, and footage of the LP guy making a call on his phone at the same time. Looking back, it seemed a very strange thing to take place immediately after catching someone shoplifting, and I'm sure questions would be asked about why he was talking to me for so long. He also made comments about how he used to be in debt but not anymore as he's in a very good job now and he makes plenty of money. It all seems so out of place, now I think back on it. And do these guys actually earn that much anyway? I'm wondering if he actually exploits a fair few people and has got himself a nice little earner on the side there!

It also made me wonder why, if they'd known I was stealing for months and knew I was a regular in the store and recognised me each time I was in there, why did they never just apprehend me once I was in there? If they had so much evidence of me taking previous items then I don't understand why they still had to wait to actually catch me in the act, if indeed that CCTV evidence was sufficient to prove my guilt. Essentially they knew I was stealing but allowed me to continue doing so until they could actually catch me with something. That is making me wonder if the police don't rely on store CCTV alone so they knew that previous footage wouldn't mean much at all and that they still had physically catch me. The LP guy said, during our conversation outside, that he doesn't know whether RLP will 'fine' me (his words!) for all of the incidents they know about or just this one. I'll wait and see what their letters say anyway!

And maybe they make more money going down the civil route than through the courts, since that may result in conviction but no compensation to the store. The LP guy made out like I was the worst shoplifter they had ever had in saying they'd had meetings about it and all sorts, but logically I can't imagine that happens. It feels to me like I'm the only one but obviously common sense tells me that a huge city store very likely has plenty of regular shoplifters to deal with and I can't imagine they would be putting the time in to have staff meetings about all these cases, otherwise they would never have time to be on the shop floor! As far as his call to me goes, I only hope the seed has been planted on their side, and that maybe they will wonder if that call actually did take place. He might even be questioned about it. Agreed that two wrongs don't make a right. I also agree that I'm highly unlikely to receive that call on Monday but if I do, it will be recorded, don't worry! Thanks everyone for the help and support. I know there are plenty out there who do it, get caught, do it again and again until they end up in jail. Not me, not happening. Not worth it. I stupidly thought I'd found a solution to pay off some debts quicker but a criminal record is worse than all the debts in the world!

Now you mention it, the whole incident outside was very informal, now I look back on it. At the time I was in a state and not thinking properly but we were stood there for at least 15 minutes. Now, it was right outside one of the entrances to the store and cameras were all around so I don't think there were any of those intentions on his part, but what I do suspect now is that he kept me talking long enough to decide what kind of person I am and whether I'd be likely to part with some cash. Given that I spent some of the time in tears, I suspect he thought he could milk me for a fair bit. At one point, a couple of PCSO officers even walked right past us and he just smiled and waved at them and made it look like he was having a chat with a friend. He had the opportunity right there to call them over and report me but he didn't. He also spent the whole time smoking his e-cig, which also seemed very strange considering the situation. My only slight worry is that now he knows he's not getting that cash, he could report me to the police now as there's nothing in it for him but I'm guessing he won't since Boots have already been told about this call and whilst he's denied it, I'm sure it will be making them wonder why I would make that up since I had no reason to! I'm hoping he'll not contact me again and just keep his head down. And I've already downloaded an app that records calls automatically so if he does call again, it will all be on there. There's so many of those apps that maybe he will even be wondering if I did record that call and he'll just let it lie now.

I agree, and he seemed so confident and convincing when he was speaking to me that it's making me think I won't be the first person he has tried this with and I'm sure there will be others who've coughed up. The giveaway really was the bargaining he was doing, such as asking 'well how much can you pay?' when I said I couldn't pay the £700 upfront. And that it must be cash. It hardly seemed to be the way a large retail store would deal with a shoplifting case. Toby also completely believed I had received that call and said that if it were proven he had done that, it would be gross misconduct and dismissal but he also said there's probably no proof either side, which is true. Obviously phone records can be investigated by the police but I highly doubt anyone would do that in this case, especially since I'm in no position myself to take the moral high ground. I'm just glad I found out it wasn't legit before parting with the cash. Apparently it will be around three weeks before I get the first letter. I'm not too concerned about those anyway - as someone who's spent years in a lot of debt, I am more than familiar with the sort of tactics and threats they're likely to come out with and experience of this does mean I'm not the type now to cave under pressure with silly letters. I imagine they have even less clout than my actual creditors, since I did borrow money from them and they're entitled to chase me for it but from what I've read RLP have no clout at all. I only wonder one thing - if so many people ignore these letters and don't pay, why don't RLP or Boots then decide to just escalate those cases to the police anyway out of spite, if nothing else? Is it just a simple case of the police not being interested if they weren't called at the time?

Just to update on this, I got a third party to call Boots HO about this and she spoke to a lovely man called Toby. He completely agreed that something didn't seem right and he advised the majority of shoplifting cases are dealt with as civil matters. He called through to the store manager today who advised the matter hasn't been reported to the police and there is no requirement to pay any 'fine' on Monday. Apparently she also spoke to the security guard who denied mentioning anything about a cash fine, he claimed he only called me to discuss the charges I would be getting from RLP and to clarify thing further. Toby himself that Boots prefer to deal with things as a civil matter, which is obviously because they know there's more chance of making money out of people that way. Obviously she didn't say that to him. So quite clearly this guard was trying to exploit the situation for his own ends, which is what I did suspect all along. Toby has reassured me a lot in terms of police involvement, they haven't been called and he said they're highly unlikely to be, though he obviously couldn't say it's a guarantee but I'm guessing I can pretty much take that as they won't be involved. Thanks to everyone who advised me on this, it felt shifty from the start but without some other opinions I probably wouldn't have gone as far as contacting Boots to get the information. I'm just wondering now if that security guard will be questioned in relation to that call, though he denied saying any of those things.. . I'm sure it might slightly taint their opinion of him though. Obviously I'm no Saint myself but he clearly was trying to take advantage of someone he knew was in absolute turmoil which I believe makes him no better than the thief I have been!

I get what you're saying and I know that in the majority of cases, if they haven't called the police at the time then they won't. But in my case I'm concerned they could still report it - they have my name and address and all the footage, all they've got to to do is report it and I'm sure the police would be interested in arresting me based on the amount of footage they've got. It would be an easy prosecution, I could imagine. I don't fall within the 'below £200' value which is what the law states is low-rate theft. The total amount is probably a grand or more and this sits in a higher category, that's why I'm concerned there's a very good chance they could still get the police involved. Or are you saying that they'd have done that already if they wanted to? It kind of feels like this is a bribe - 'pay us this and we won't tell the police' - which is the only thing I feel I've got to my advantage, since I'm sure large stores wouldn't usually handle something like that in this way.

It did come from a withheld number, but when I gave my number on the day I was caught (with a female staff member present also), he called me from the company mobile phone he was using to check I'd given him the right number and it rang as withheld then. So I'm guessing that's the phone he was calling from. He said other stuff like, like how they all had a meeting about it (the counter staff, his boss and security staff) to discuss my case and how they'd all been wanting to prosecute but eventually decided to let him make the decision. This also seems odd to me - why would Boots, who have ultimately taken the loss here, allowed one of their security staff to make a decision about this? That doesn't seem like normal practice either.

LP (loss prevention), he calls himself a Loss Prevention Officer which I'm guessing is a fancy word for security guard. I agree it sounds a bit off, I feel like they've got me in a catch 22 situation here because I know they've got plenty of CCTV footage. If they didn't, he wouldn't have been able to accurately describe various items I'd taken and when I did it. The guy said he would call me on Monday morning at 9am, presumably I'd be going to the Boots store, but he didn't specify. I agree it sounds like he might want this cash in his back pocket but to be honest, I don't care if it buys me peace of mind. I just want to know how likely it is they could call the police once I'm there. They have my full name and address, so I would have thought that if Boots themselves were so intent on prosecuting me, they would have reported me already and the police would have been at my house. I've arranged to borrow some cash from my mum, though she doesn't know what it's for, so I've basically got the weekend now to decide what the hell to do. Given the amount of CCTV footage they have, wouldn't the police still take an interest even though Boots did let me go at the time? With all my correct details and the evidence, surely it would be a nice and easy case for them? It's also worth adding that he said an 'in store' fine would be around £700 but when I said there's no way I could pay that, he asked how much I could pay. He then made a call to someone on another phone whilst on the line to me, I could hear his side of the discussion, he said it was his boss. He said he was negotiating with him on whether the amount could be less, and then he agreed that £350 would be acceptable to close the whole case. There didn't seem to be much negotiating required to get the amount halved. I'm wondering if I should call the Boots head office and ask if this is a known practice in their stores. The more I think about it, the more I'm thinking that Boots would have just called the police without even bothering to listen to the LP guy if they really wanted to. It does feel like he's taking advantage of how much I value my job but then I can't prove that and if I don't pay up, I'm thinking maybe he'll just pass the details to the police anyway out of spite and I'll be screwed.

I had a call from the LP who caught me today. He said his boss was really not happy that the police weren't being called and also wanted me arrested because the job I'm in 'must involve money' if I have to go through the kind of credit checking that I go through, which obviously is correct. He said his boss thought it should be reported to the police as I'm likely a risk in the job I'm in. I know I'm not, I've worked for the same company for 11 years and I don't even have direct access to cash, I'm in the back office. But it would NEVER occur to me to steal from my workplace. But obviously they don't know that. The LP said that he had also contacted RLP and that, based on the footage they had of me stealing various items over such a long period of time, the 'fine' they would be looking to give me is £3k, which obviously I know everyone would tell me not to pay anyway. The LP said he had managed to convince is boss to handle it 'in store' instead and keep both the police and RLP out of it but I would have to go back to store and pay a £350 'fine' which would be in cash and essentially go back directly to Boots. He said that would be the end of the case. I am able to do that, he asked if I could do today I can't as I'm not at work today and I live 30 miles away from that city centre so the store would be closed by the time I could get there. He agreed Monday morning would be fine. I'm just nervous that the police will be there and I'll be arrested. He has been super nice all the way through I'm worried his boss has asked for this to get me back there and involve the police. I know they have plenty of CCTV evidence to get me convicted but equally if I don't go back and pay the fine, they can still report it to the police. Can someone advise what I should be doing? I'm perfectly happy to pay this fine if this is going to be an end to it, I just don't know if they can have me arrested when I go back there.

You could be right there, though I've never ever thought of myself as depressed, I'm always very jovial and happy but I've had a pretty rough year - lost a close friend suddenly last year after he got food poisoning, he was type 1 diabetic and slipped into a coma and died. He was only 25. Got suspended from work for a gross misconduct allegation (which was NOT a theft allegation, I will point out!), it was to do with breaching data protection but was all based on hearsay and nothing else. The allegations were dropped after a full investigation which found absolutely nothing, but it dragged on for so long because (unbeknownst to me at the time) HR were refusing to take it to disciplinary stage. The manager who suspended me apparently decided to go against HR advice anyway and went for the full thing but I was found completely innocent and reinstated into my role. Strangely, the manager who suspended me left the company less than a fortnight after I returned. To this day I'll never know why it went that far. So that was very stressful. On Boxing Day I was flooded very badly, I'm still dealing with that and slowly getting my house back in order but insurance is proving to be a nightmare in terms of who will cover me once my current policy expires. And just recently there were a load of redundancies announced in my department. I've ended up being OK but there was a period of five weeks when we didn't know who was for the chop and who wasn't. So it really hasn't been the best year for me, I will make an appointment to see my doctor to see what they say. And thank you to everyone who has responded and been so helpful, this is a truly wonderful forum of very helpful people! I've got a friend who's currently going through some employment issues and I've directed her here to start off with.