Reformed shoplifter, never caught but worried about future comeback

[Bolivia88]

hello all.

 

 

I have for the past year become a shoplifter.

 

 

I was in financial difficulties and still am.

 

 

To begin with I took small things ad hoc but the more I got away with the more I did.

 

 

It has escalated and one day I woke up and just felt awful about what I was doing.

 

 

I realised it was no way to deal with my problems and the guilt of what I was doing was slowly eating me up.

 

 

I have committed to myself to never do it again.

 

 

My question to you all is this.

Is there likely to be any come back from previous thefts?

All the shops I have stolen from have cctv.

I was caught once and received a banning order from the shop but no police called.

 

 

Thanks in advance.

[unclebulgaria67]

hello all. I have for the past year become a shoplifter. I was in financial difficulties and still am. To begin with I took small things ad hoc but the more I got away with the more I did. It has escalated and one day I woke up and just felt awful about what I was doing. I realised it was no way to deal with my problems and the guilt of what I was doing was slowly eating me up. I have committed to myself to never do it again. My question to you all is this. Is there likely to be any come back from previous thefts? All the shops I have stolen from have cctv. I was caught once and received a banning order from the shop but no police called. Thanks in advance.

 

Most shops don't start Police action these days, to save taking up Police time and to avoid incuring costs of getting involved in prosecutions. They instead try to obtain a sum of money via retail loss prevention, where a company writes to ask for a sum of money to act as compensation.

 

Just stay away from the shops you stole from and don't do it again.

[SabreSheep]

No comeback

 

BUT

 

Remain reformed, otherwise Comeback may happen.

 

If you were caught but no police called, unless you gave your details to an organisation that hires RLP you should be fine.

 

Now lets turn those old sticky fingers into useful fingers.

 

Look on the forum under financial problems etc and then start using the forum to tackle your financial difficulties.

[Bolivia88]

Thanks. Do shops not review cctv and if spot me would they not trace me through the credit card that I used whilst there? Is it best that I do not ever go to those shops again ie would they pick me up for previous thefts that they have on cctv?

[unclebulgaria67]

Thanks. Do shops not review cctv and if spot me would they not trace me through the credit card that I used whilst there? Is it best that I do not ever go to those shops again ie would they pick me up for previous thefts that they have on cctv?

 

I doubt they review CCTV unless a significant amount of items have been stolen or an expensive item.

 

If they have noticed you, they may just have a picture of you to keep an eye on if you visited the shop again.

[renegadeimp]

Remember the golden rule. Dont just say, DO!!

 

As others pointed out, you need to focus on staying out of trouble. Nothing will happen now, otherwise the police would have caught up to you. Stay away from those stores for a good few months or longer. Because you can almost guarantee they will be keeping an eye out for you.

 

Also remember, even if you are in serious debt, there is always a good way out, which is why sites like CAG exist.

 

Could you make a new thread and post all your debts, with as much info as possible. We WILL help you through it all, if you allow us to.

[JoeyJoeC]

Worked in retail for a few years, no one is looking at the cameras. They will only ever check the cameras if they suspect something. They will not have a member of staff sit through every camera's video recording.

 

When I worked at B&Q, I used to find the packaging for many products that were stolen, the shop merely writes it off, doesn't even check to see who stole it, since 95% of the time, there is sod all they can do about it anyway. Security guards won't remember you.

 

Although this was the case for small value items, it would likely be a different case if a shop notices £100's of stock missing suddenly.