Hi

Firstly I am extremely upset/embarrassed by my son's behaviour - but I am trying to be practical in this post.....

My 15yo son was caught shoplifting in our Sainsbury's Local this morning

He was stopped by a shop assistant as he had put packs on condoms (!) in his pocket.

He was stopped by the sandwich section near the door.

My son admitted to nothing, nor made any excuses.

Just handed the packs back.

The store assistant took his name, address and mobile number, and said he was calling the police (he made a call, there and then at the till, and then bragged to the person on the other end of the phone about how good he was as this).

All this happened in the store, he wasn't taken anywhere, no other member of staff was involved and there was no paperwork shared or anything, just a scrap of paper with my son's details taken. He was also told he was banned for life.

So my questions are

Why was there no paperwork?

Surely there s some sort of official documentation?

I would have expected that he would have been sat down, explained the seriousness of the accusation, told what happens next etc?

Why was he accused when he hadn't left the store, he could have been buying a sandwich and put the condoms in his pocket as he was embarrassed about carrying them in the store?

Did the shop assistant really call the police?

Surely my son would have been detained first?

Others on the forum who have been banned have been given a piece of paper -my son was given nothing

Will the shop tell the school - just so I can be prepared for this when they go back after Easter.

Also, they let my son go before my husband was called, and he was obviously very upset by what happened he didn't come home for another hour and we were very worried about him.....it feels irresponsible for a shop to allow a minor to leave without a parent coming to get them.....

Any advice gratefully received - do we need to get legal representation? Would it nake a difference?

Thanks for any help and advice

Hi and welcome to CAG.

As this was a small store, it is highly unlikely they had any security staff there which would explain why the shop assistant stopped him.

I don't think that his still being in the store when he was apprehended would make much of a difference. Usually, when a shoplifter has passed the pay point, this is good enough for intent.

It is possible the assistant did call the police but they generally don't attend for small sums as they think they are better placed dealing with more serious cases.

What to do. Apart from the severe rollocking your son deserves, he should stay away from the shop. Smaller stores remember who is who. Other forumites have stolen from big stores where they have a security presence and any cases are dealt by them. It may be that the shop assistant passes on his details to the main office for the area who may take further action. (Or Not)

If anyone from Sainsburys passed his details on to the school, they would be in breach of the Data Protection Act as only they and the police would be entitled to his details.

I can't say for certain that civil recovery will get involved or not. It's a case of wait and see

Thanks very much for your help and advice. I am gutted by his actions/poor decisions, especially as his friend at school been caught 2 years ago and I thought we had put the fear of God into him then.... there will be some BIG sanctions put in place.

Do you think the police will come round to the house? or most likely take no further action?

We live in a small town with 2 Sainsbury's - so I will make sure he stays away from both...

Can Sainsbury's pass his name to other shops in town too? or would this also be in breach of the DPA?

Thanks

 

Do you think the police will come round to the house? or most likely take no further action?

 

If they do, it's more than likely they will offer 'words of advice' It's difficult to say with the police. One force will have one set of standards while another's will be totally different

We live in a small town with 2 Sainsbury's - so I will make sure he stays away from both...

 

Can Sainsbury's pass his name to other shops in town too? or would this also be in breach of the DPA?

 

Thanks

 

Some towns and I suppose some villages will have a Shop Watch scheme in place wher details of a shoplifter may be passed around. This is normally with the photograph of the offender so that other stores can see his image and potentially follow him around. I don't feel that would be a breach as there is a get out where the data is being used for the detection and prevention of crime

See my comments in red.

I also live in a small town but here, there is nothing like Shop Watch here. I wish I could say that he will be able to go into any shop in your town but my knowledge is lacking. (and NO we don't need to know where you live)

My opinion is to punish him then put it to the back of your mind. Worrying over something that 'might' happen is counter productive. If you do get a letter from any civil recovery company, come back and we will help you ignore them

Thanks again SIlverFox - we do have shop watch as another of my children works in a shop as a Saturday job - they share names only if you are under 18

Thanks again SIlverFox - we do have shop watch as another of my children works in a shop as a Saturday job - they share names only if you are under 18

Well, as they didn't take a picture of him, it will be hard for a store to recall who comes in and out of the stores but your son doesn't know that does he