A team from TM-Eye, a private investigating force of former police detectives, said they waited more than half an hour for police to arrive after they took down the thieves.

Marty Scott, 57, was kicked in the head by two shoplifters and suffered a stroke shortly afterwards. Halfords initially offered him just £16,000 in compensation, blamed him for suffering the injury

EXCLUSIVE: The number of ‘soft justice’ community resolutions handed out by British police has increased by 40 per cent in the last six years.

Shops and supermarkets including Sainsbury’s and Sports Direct have began fighting back against the UK’s ‘shoplifting epidemic’ with facial recognition cameras.

Naomi keeps a book in the office at the Liverpool Co-op store that she manages. It logs all the shoplifting and abuse her staff have received. In 2023 alone, there have been 1,000 incidents.

High street giants including John Lewis , Co-op, Tesco , Sainsbury’s , Waitrose and Next are among those pumping £600,000 into the operation, dubbed Project Pegasus.

An Atlanta Walmart will add a distinctive feature to combat retail theft: an on-site police substation or a mini precinct that will double as a deterrent to shoplifters and a working space for officers. 

Since 2021, John-Paul Drake, who runs Drakes Supermarkets, has been using sarcastic videos on Instagram to try and find those who steal from his stores.

Matt Hood, Co-op Food managing director, made the remarks after denying that an uptick in thefts at the retailer’s stores was a response to the alleged profiteering by supermarkets.

Policing minister Chris Philp is pushing police forces to use of facial recognition technology and artificial intelligence to match shoplifting offenders with those photographed in national police data.