The decision by the Government’s Sentencing Advisory Panel comes after Retail Week’s Take Retail Crime Seriously campaign, which galvanised the support of hundreds of retailers from businesses of all sizes to voice their support against the plans.
“It has been a positive outcome and we’re pleased with it,” said Mike Schuck of Action Against Business Crime, the body funded by the BRC and Home Office to tackle the issue.
“Retail Week’s campaign was significant, because it brought the very serious implications of this proposal to the attention of senior retail executives,” he added.
The proposals had also been opposed by shop workers’ union Usdaw, which said the move would increase attacks on shop staff. The proposed guidelines allow for a maximum sentence of seven years for theft from a shop, with the severity of the sentence to be determined by the levels of violence, intimidation and organisation.
However, this week’s announcement was not all good for multiples. The Panel also recommended that crimes against smaller retailers should be considered more serious than those against multiples. “There is still plenty more work to be done,” said Schuck.
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