Is there a way of stopping repeat shoplifting?

Persistent shoplifters are often caught in a cycle of police, courts and prison, says a charity which is calling for more joined up support to be made available.

Revolving Doors says homelessness, poor mental health and poverty are often driving this repeat offending.

Police forces in England and Wales recorded 502,011 shoplifting offences in 2025-26, a 5% drop on the year before but higher than pre-pandemic levels.

The Home Office says 23% of offences now lead to a charge, meaning more criminals are facing consequences.

A recent BBC investigation found 270 shoplifters were linked to more than 28,000 offences between 2020-21 and 2025-26.

Pavan Dhaliwal, CEO of Revolving Doors said: "People rightly want safer high streets, fewer victims and less crime.

"But repeatedly arresting and imprisoning the same people experiencing homelessness and addiction over and over again, without addressing why they keep offending, is an expensive failure that does little to make communities safer."

During a day of coverage by BBC News teams across England in September, one reporter and camera crew managed to film thieves in the act at a Greggs shop in Bearwood near Birmingham.

Journalist Josh Tranter described one of two brazen thefts they filmed in just 20 minutes.

"Two men walked in, both had backpacks, opened the fridge and they started ransacking the place, they took absolutely everything," he said.

"The lady behind the counter came out and she asked them to stop, they just ignored her.

"They weren't wearing any masks, they walked in. They saw the cameras, they saw our cameras."

Tranter added: "The lady said to them, 'We've got you on camera, we've got your faces' and they said, 'Happy days', which just shows the contempt that they have."

In a statement, Greggs said: "Shoplifting is an industry-wide issue which we take extremely seriously.

"We have invested in a range of enhanced security measures across our shops and continue to work closely with the police and wider industry bodies to tackle this issue so offenders face consequences."

In Bournemouth, convenience store owner Erdogan Yigitoglu told the BBC how brazen some thieves were, after children wearing balaclavas targeted his store.

Yigitoglu, who has run his shop for 19 years, says: "Shoplifters damage the business, the environment, country.

"They're stealing from your pocket, my pocket, everybody's pocket."

He has turned to social media in recent years and credits publicly shaming and banning shoplifters for a reduction in crimes at his store over the past few years.

Policing experts say many offences in recent years have been linked to organised crime groups.

Amit Puntambekar, who runs a shop in Fenstanton, Cambridgeshire, says he is seeing a different type of shoplifter.

"Sometimes we're seeing people who are 60-plus, who might be struggling," he said.

"We're seeing them not doing what's in their nature, but doing it to survive."

Some 28,415 recorded offences had been connected to just 270 suspects, according to data from 27 police forces shared with the BBC.

One suspect in Sussex had been linked to 247 shoplifting offences during a six-year period.

Retailers, including the Co-op, have been calling on the government to do more to tackle prolific offenders, including making more use of employment and rehabilitation programmes.

The government also says a large number of shop thefts are fuelled by repeat offenders stealing to fund their addictions.

A former shoplifter says his life has been turned around by a support scheme in the West Midlands, after he was stealing goods worth up to £1,000 a day to fund his drug addiction.

Rhys Davies from Dudley said his issues with substance abuse began during the Covid-19 pandemic when he was out of work.

"I was going into the same shop three or four times a day and clearing whole shelves of products," he said.

"I'd fill suitcases with stuff like cheese, washing powders and liquids, coffees, batteries and meats, things I knew I could offload straight away to obviously get the money I needed to feed my addiction."

Davies was given help by the Offending 2 Recovery scheme, which offers stable housing support and tailored rehabilitation plans.

"In Greater Manchester, Nottinghamshire and the West Midlands, there are already strong examples of agencies working together to address those root causes rather than simply waiting for the next offence," according to Dhaliwal.

"We need to learn from and scale approaches like these," the Revolving Doors CEO said.

She added: "These are people who are often well known to the police, courts, prisons, and other public services. The problem isn't that we don't know who they are.

"It's that too often we're failing to join up the support that could stop them offending again."

About one in five shoplifting offences in 2025-26 have led to a charge or summons.

However, 285,667 reported crimes remain open cases, or they have been closed without any action being taken.

Policing Minister Sarah Jones said: "For too long, retail crime was dismissed as 'low-level', but we have been investing in more neighbourhood policing and working with police to ensure it's treated as the crime it is.

"But, we're going further. We're changing the law to ensure there is no concept of immunity for shop theft, regardless of the value of the goods stolen, and we're exploring a trial to crack down on the repeat offenders responsible for much of this crime."

The government says it is also exploring other ways of tackling prolific shoplifting - in addition to prison sentences and drug treatment - including court orders preventing offenders from visiting certain shops or areas.

A number of forces have started using live facial recognition technology, while in Sussex some repeat offenders are now monitored using electronic GPS ankle tags.

Croydon could become the first borough in London to tag and track prolific shoplifters.

Assistant Chief Constable of Merseyside Police Alex Goss, who is the National Police Chiefs' Council lead for retail crime, said: "It is important to recognise the significant progress that has been made."

He said: "The strategy is delivering real results by bringing together policing, retailers, government and industry partners to strengthen information sharing, improve offender management, reduce violence against retail workers and develop more effective ways of reporting and investigating retail crime."

Additional reporting by Jonathan Eden

Follow BBC Sussex on Facebook, on X, and on Instagram and listen to BBC Radio Sussex on Sounds. Send your story ideas to southeasttoday@bbc.co.uk or WhatsApp us on 08081 002250.