Caught in B&Q...

[silverfox1961]

Hi and welcome to CAG

 

I agree with everyone so far. It may be that the security company will pass the photo on to other stores which are part of a shop/store watch scheme. This photo cannot be placed in an area seen by the public. As for a town banning order. Nah! You can go into other shops but the store security may follow you around. The police do have different rules on what they can do but as they were not involved, nothing will come of that.

 

Anybody going into any shop/store is there by invitation only and any store can ask you to leave for whatever reason they want however many shops want your (legitimate) business.

I would stay out of B&Q for about 6 months and by that time they should have forgotten about you but you would be a trespasser and they can still ask you to leave.

 

From the 25th of this month, the new Data Protection rules come into place and no one is allowed to charge you the old £10 fee. They will also have only 30 days to supply your data instead of the old 40 days rule.

Ensure that if you do send the request , that you want details of the store security company. I don't know if B&Q have their own store security or whether they pay a private company to do this on their behalf.

 

As for any begging letters, ignore them. It is likely that the people contacting you will be RLP although there is another company that does the same and they are called DWF. The only time to react is if a 'Letter Before Action' arrives or if they bypass the Pre Action Protocols and send you court papers. Highly unlikely they will do anything at all but better be forewarned than ignorant.

 

After all my waffle:

1 Don't do it again as you will be more likely to get a police visit and makes us on CAG look silly.

2 Ignore RLP/DWF and any 'pet' debt collector

3 When you get the letters, post them here (suitably redacted of ALL personal data) in pdf format

4 Work out the reasons you felt that stealing was OK.

[silverfox1961]

I think that letter is all you will receive however, if any other letters arrive, let us know.

 

 

"They MAY disseminate" is a bit vague but nothing much to worry about. If they did pass it between other members of the scheme, they are duty bound to protect that data from falling into the wrong hands so although your employer has links to the council, this wouldn't show.

 

 

With these schemes, businesses liaise with the police and the councils to ensure that they follow the rules hence the logos at the bottom of the letter. All it means is that thepolice and the council have approved the scheme and share the values committed to by the stores.

 

 

12 months will pass very quickly and you will soon forget this ever happened. Another thing to note. If you change jobs in the future, if you are asked if you have a criminal record, you can honestly say no. Even if a job included an enhanced CRB check, this won't show.

 

 

Try to get on with your life and treat this single incident as a learning experience.

 

 

Good Luck