Prolific shoplifter jailed and handed 5-year Criminal Behaviour Order

Prolific shoplifter jailed and handed 5-year Criminal Behaviour Order

You raised shoplifting as a concern, so here’s a quick local update.

Today at Wimbledon Magistrates’ Court, prolific shoplifter Dumka WILSON, who has been targeting businesses across South London, including Croydon, Wandsworth and Lambeth, was convicted of 11 shoplifting offences.

The value stolen during individual offences ranged from £10.49 to £1,253.

WILSON was sentenced to 28 weeks’ imprisonment and ordered to pay £314 in fines and costs.

In addition, the court granted a Criminal Behaviour Order (CBO) lasting five years, placing significant restrictions on WILSON following his release.

Under the order, WILSON must:
• Not enter Lidl, Boots, Marks & Spencer, Sainsbury’s, Primark or Holland & Barrett anywhere in England and Wales, even if the business changes its name or ownership.
• Not enter any private or commercial premises from which he has previously been banned in writing, or becomes banned from while the CBO is in force.
• When inside a shop, place all items he picks up into a basket or trolley, where one is provided, and use it to take the items to the point of purchase. Where neither is available, items must remain visible in his hands and must not be concealed before payment.
• Produce a receipt to store staff or security when requested before leaving the premises.
• Not possess drug paraphernalia, subject to the medical exception specified within the order.
• Not follow, approach, intimidate, harass, alarm, distress or directly or indirectly contact retail staff he knows, or ought to know, outside their workplace.

The order will remain in force for five years. Breaching any of the conditions of a Criminal Behaviour Order is a criminal offence and may result in a further custodial sentence.

This result demonstrates the action being taken against persistent offenders whose repeated offending causes significant harm to businesses, retail workers and our communities.

Retail crime is not victimless. We will continue working with businesses and our partners across borough boundaries to identify prolific offenders, bring them before the courts and use available powers to disrupt further offending.

The Met is cracking down on street crime, like shoplifting, people doing drugs and phone-snatching. 

We’ve put hundreds more officers on the frontlines of community crime-fighting teams, upping visible patrols in the right ‘hot spots’ so we can deter and catch criminals.

We’re now arresting more than 1,000 extra criminals every month and seeing ‘neighbourhood crime’ down 14%.

But we know there is more to do. That’s why we’re stepping up our use of technology, increasing our operations and working with retailers to make it less appealing for criminals to commit these crimes in the first place.

If you notice anything suspicious or witness anyone shoplifting, please report it as soon as possible. These reports are invaluable in letting us build a picture of when and where shop lifters operate, meaning we can be in the right place at the right time to arrest those responsible. 

For more guidance, see our page on how to spot a shoplifter.