Shopkeepers in the upmarket neighbourhood of Morningside in Edinburgh have raised concerns regarding the safety of their businesses after a series of attacks by shoplifters. In one instance, a shopkeeper was knocked to the floor and choked by a thief in the store where she worked, while another colleague was punched in the face. A shop owner in the same area had a knife pulled on them during an attempt to rob the store. According to Anne Ness, the secretary of the Morningside Traders Association, there has been an increase in shoplifting in the past few years, but now it has reached levels that are completely off the scale. She also stated that recent cuts to policing have effectively “decriminalised” shoplifting.
Police have attempted to address the issue by implementing increased patrols in the area. They have also distributed a life-size cardboard cut-out of a police officer, which has been placed outside a prominent hardware store. Although the local shop owners have welcomed the heightened police presence, they believe that this measure alone is insufficient.
Mandy Johnston, a shop manager at Toys Galore, was recently attacked at the store after trying to stop a woman from leaving the store with a £40 Lego set she had not paid for. The thief knocked her to the ground and put her hands around her throat. The shop’s owner, Donald Nairn, tried to intervene, but he was hit in the face by the thief’s male accomplice. Nairn believes that shoplifting has essentially been “decriminalised” due to the government’s lack of resources for policing and the cessation of community policing in any meaningful form. Shoplifting has become a socially permissible crime, leading to the disruption and distress of those affected by it.
According to justice secretary Angela Constance, recent damage and harm caused by retail crime cannot be overlooked. She expressed her concerns over the rise of shoplifting and violence against retail workers and has established that all crimes should be reported to the police. Her government’s budget includes plans to make £3m available in 2025-26 to address retail crime. Additionally, the police have allocated a record £1.62 bn for policing next year, concerning a £70m boost on 2024-25. Police Scotland stresses that the retail sector must come forward to report criminal activities and that any received reports will be comprehensively investigated
Read the full article from The BBC here: Read More
