I was caught shoplifting some earrings from Topshop yesterday by the LP officer. I know what I did was totally wrong and I am completely and utterly ashamed of myself. I feel dreadful and I deserve the scare they gave me.

They approached me outside the shop and asked me to come with them to the holding room. When there, I admitted I had taken a pair of earrings and gave them back. The LP officer kept asking me about a gold necklace that I knew I hadn't taken so I took all my stuff out and showed them I didn't have it. I was in a real state of shock and fear and had (honestly or maybe just in fear) forgotten I had taken another pair of earrings which he had thought was a necklace.

They did not get the police involved or mention the police at all. They took my photo, name, and address from my driving license and gave me an exclusion order from any of the shops in the Arcadia group. I then paid for the earrings and was escorted out.

The thing I am mostly concerned about is, would they (having dealt with it in house and by giving a ban to me) bother reviewing the CCTV tapes regarding the earrings I did not give back? And then pursue further action based on that evidence? The items were only about £5 if that makes any difference.

I am so so worried about this. I have never stolen before and feel totally disgusted with my behaviour. Any help would be so so appreciated.

Edit - I gave back one pair of earrings and paid for them. The other pair were in my pocket the whole time so I didn't give them back but the LP officer certainly suspected/knew I had taken something else. I was panicking so much I think I just completely forgot about the other pair. It's the fact that I didn't hand these over and think it will be on CCTV that worries me about further action.

Hi Gaddesden

Welcome to CAG

The guys will advise as soon as they are available.

So they allowed you to pay for the earrings after they interviewed you. So what have you taken without paying? Your post is slightly confusing.

Try not to worry too much.

You ''might'' receive a letter from RLP claiming you owe more money for the item you were caught with, this can be ignored.

If there was no police involvement, and they dealt with it in-house, then try and move on, learn from it and get on with your life.

Hi and welcome to CAG

Nobody here will judge you. You have managed that all yourself.

It depends on what measures the store have with civil recovery. Most of the threads on CAG are about RLP but there are a couple of smaller players out there who may have a contract with TopShop.

If they choose, they may ask the police to investigate the theft but that (in my opinion) is unlikely as the value is small but of course nothing is certain.

It is more likely that they will involve a civil recovery company to chase you for 'compensation'. IF that does happen, come back and we can help with that.

Thanks so much for the replies. If they did choose to have the police investigate the theft, how long would that usually take to come through?

IMO I would have thought that if they wanted the police to look at this, then they would have done so there and then, try not to worry or second guess.

The store dealt with you and banned you from the shopping group, so I would forget it now.

Besides the old bill might just turn round to them and say ''well you've dealt with it already what more do you want us to do, plus it was mere pennies?''

Thanks very much - I feel a bit better about it but still just totally sick and angry at myself. My hope is that, as you have said, having dealt with it in store they won't go through the hassle of getting the police involved afterwards.

Any complaint to the police will do very little as you have been let go and therefore a break in the evidential trail means that the police wont be interested other than for intelligence purposes.

I would accept the ban from their stores and since there has been no loss to the store (if I read your post correctly) then RLP or the like have no claim to anything from you. Learn your lesson and do not worry about it going any further.

Get the police out of your mind. In Topshops eyes, it's over and done with. Theyve probably already forgotten you even exist.

Hello,

How long was your ban from Arcadia and how did you manage to be able to shop there again?

This thread is over 18 months old, and won't be answered, if you've a specific problem, then please start a new thread and post up

as much details as you can and others will be able to advise and help out.

This thread is over 18 months old, and won't be answered, if you've a specific problem, then please start a new thread and post up

as much details as you can and others will be able to advise and help out.

BB, Janie does already have a thread of her own... she was simply asking a question of this particular thread starter.

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?454026-Topshop-theft-ban-help

OK TY