Stole from m&s very worried

[strangerdanger]

Did my shopping in m&s as I do every week with my partner.

When we use the self scan till we dont always scan everything saving maybe £20.

This time we didn't scan lots of stuff.

We were in a rush which is no excuse but noticed the staff watching us as stupidly we made it obvious.

We didn't scan maybe £80 worth of stuff and paid for the rest (£40).

As we were leaving I noticed the one of the staff go straight to the till we used and look up what items we bought but we left very quickly and he didnt have any time to stop us.

My worry is will they be able to find out who we are from the till/store cctv, find out who we are from our debit card or even find out who we are from the car registration we left in?

Will they contact the police and give cctv/card details, reg number?

Whats the chances of the police contacting us?

We obviously won't be doing it again. We wont be returning to that m&s store or any of them in fact.

We are absolutely terrified our anxiety is through the roof and we have a little child.

[dx100uk]

no the police will not be involved.

p'haps you should have thought a bit more about your child before you started this spate of repeated premeditated shop lifting....

all very well having worries for their future afterwards as some kind of excuse for being allowed to do it and continue to get off scot free.

dx

[strangerdanger]

You are right and we won't be doing it no more.

How sure are you on the fact police won't be involved?

Would they not contact police and show them the cctv?

[honeybee13]

We've never seen a case of police being called after the event in all the time I've been on this forum. It's possible that store security at M&S have viewed the CCTV and would recognise you if you go there again.

As dx says, the important thing is to stop shoplifting, find somewhere different to shop and pay for everything you buy going forward. You've been lucky so far but it can only catch up with you.

HB

[BazzaS]

I can’t be so sure.

Most similar posts are where someone gets stopped & is worried the police get called after the store has

a) retrieved the goods and

b) banned them.

Here is different : they made good their escape before the staff could stop them.

if the staff would have stopped them but weren’t quick enough, they might escalate it to loss prevention, who would have the CCTV and the card details. If they looked back on previous episodes of card use, knowing the time & date : if they still had CCTV and saw previous high value thefts- they might inform the police.

lots of "if’s" and “might’s” there, but I cant be as sure as other respondents, given it wasn't "done & dusted" at the time (which, if it had, I'd share the other respondents certainty).

 

[dx100uk]

i see where you are going..but..

the store staff (wages expense) hours to search (if still existing) CCTV footage was available far out weighs the loss via the 'thefts'.

and any later external scammers like RLP/DWF etc can never have such access under GDPR.

what really disturbs me is the OP's historic attitude.

8 hours ago, strangerdanger said:

When we use the self scan till we dont always scan everything saving maybe £20.

dx

 

 

[BazzaS]

Agree that RLP / DWF not a concern. Have they tried anything on (other than hollow threats) since the spanking they got on the Oxford case?

Re: wages / time / expense. If the OP used the same payment card (or loyalty card) that might give loss prevention precise time / date stamps, meaning they can focus in to establish the scale of loss quite quickly. If large scale then they might view the time required as worthwhile.

Edited February 19 by BazzaS

[strangerdanger]

The shock alone even if nothing happens has made us stop completely.

It's made us realise its really not worth it at all.

the chances of police being called right now are 50/50 you think?

What would the outcome be from the police?

Would it be jail time?

Anxiety is through the roof.

[honeybee13]

I don't think we can answer your questions, unfortunately. You may have to wait and see.

HB

[strangerdanger]

Do you know how long it usually takes roughly for police to contact you?

Do they only have a certain time period?

[honeybee13]

I don't have any direct experience of this, I'm afraid, only what I've seen here.

I think the limit on bringing charges up to six years, if that's what they decided to do.

HB

[BazzaS]

For court: 6 months for police/CPS to present (“lay”) any changes for a summary offence (Magistrate Court).

So, if they lay a charge just before 6 months, then add any backlog / delay within the court itself. So, the precise timescale has 2 variables;

a) the date any charge(s) is/are laid, and

b) how busy the court is.

But, the police would usually interview a suspect first, if only to establish if it were them on the CCTV / their card hadn’t been stolen / misappropriated. So, in practice, if not heard from the police or court in 6 months, unlikely to occur.

[strangerdanger]

In the past for others do the police usually contact within the first couple of weeks? 

I'm hoping they are waiting for me to return (which I wont be) and not actually contacted the police at this point.

Would we be looking at jail time do you think? 

[honeybee13]

How many times have you done this and how much money do you think is involved?

HB

[strangerdanger]

About 4 - 6 times. I'd say about £40-£50 each time as I do pay for half the items.

[shandoli]

Unlikely they press charges. The amount seems low.

[strangerdanger]

I really do hope that they don't.

I've not been going to work as I have panic attack when leaving the house.

I constantly check the letterbox to see if there's any letters from the police.

When letters come through my heart races so fast it's worrying.

Knowing I could have to wait up to 6 months is going to send me to my grave.

I think how it's going to effect my child when I'm in prison and how I lose my job and can't afford mortgage.

I also get angry how my abuser when I was a child got off with no punishment but police admitted in writing that the crime actually happened and I could be in jail for pinching from a billion pound company..

. that's no excuse for what I've done though. 

[BazzaS]

unlikely you’d go to jail even if prosecuted.

i’d stop saying “it’s OK” (or more acceptable) to steal from them as they are a large or profitable company. That is no excuse. How would you feel if someone started comparing a mother stealing baby formula out of desperation to you choosing to steal, repeatedly, from a high-end-of-market retailer.

Was it the fact that you felt they are a large company that made you feel it was more acceptable, or “you wanted the ‘posh’ stuff”?

Edited February 19 by BazzaS

[dx100uk]

the police will not be involved nor will you ever hear from them...end of no if's or buts.

this is a very very low level matter to them. IF they ever would get involved they would simply refer the matter back to M&S stating should they wish M&S themselves could deal with this under the civil court system. but ofcourse they wont.

its a daily incident carried out by 100's of people across the country each day.

prison...NO NO NO NO.

pers im rather more concerned by:

55 minutes ago, strangerdanger said:

I also get angry how my abuser when I was a child

this could be the route cause of many issues for you without realisation. inc this compulsive stealing.

id p'haps go have a chat with your GP in confidence.

dx

[BazzaS]

Wouldn’t explain the partner taking part, though.

[honeybee13]

I agree with dx, if you think your mental health is being affected and led to your doing this, please speak to your GP.

HB

[strangerdanger]

30 minutes ago, BazzaS said:

unlikely you’d go to jail even if prosecuted.

i’d stop saying “it’s OK” (or more acceptable) to steal from them as they are a large or profitable company. That is no excuse. How would you feel if someone started comparing a mother stealing baby formula out of desperation to you choosing to steal, repeatedly, from a high-end-of-market retailer.

Was it the fact that you felt they are a large company that made you feel it was more acceptable, or “you wanted the ‘posh’ stuff”?

I never said it was OK.

I compared to if I was to be put in jail for pinching to giving no punishment to my relative who abused me even though police admitted the evidence to be true and offered a sum money which I refused.

The difference is night and day to me.

I then said but this is no excuse for what I've done.

[BazzaS]

What you’ve described happening to you is wrong.

However, “2 wrongs don’t make a right”, and although it  may seem unfair,  you cant directly use it to have any bearing on this case.

[strangerdanger]

Some saying police won't be involved some saying they could pass cctv etc to police I'm in two minds about it.

I honestly wouldn't say what happened in my past is due to me stealing but I will say the abuse effected me throughout my life and then after all these years I opened up about it ,the police did nothing at all but offer me money.

This made me angry and change the way I think about things  but then again I never stole before opening up to what happened to me.

I won't blame my past for my wrong actions.

I 100% accept that what I've done is wrong but I'm not the type of person to do something again once I've realised how bad of a person it has made me.

[Grotesque]

1 minute ago, strangerdanger said:

once I've realised how bad of a person it has made me.

Wrong. Untrue. Look at some of the people in this world and then take that back . You're not a 'bad person' at all. As Dx said, it's something that 100s of people do every day. But know what? 100s of people probably decide to stop doing it every day, too.

You're one of them.