Met says 97 percent of repeat shoplifters kept offending after charge

A small group of prolific shoplifters accounted for thousands of thefts in London, yet charging them did not stop the pattern. The Metropolitan Police says 104 repeat offenders were linked to 4,389 shoplifting offences over the last two financial years, and all but three kept offending after they had been charged.

The force said those same 104 people were tied to more than 5,300 crimes in total when other offences were included, accounting for almost a third of all incidents in London where a suspect was identified. Each of the 104 committed at least 31 offences before receiving a custodial sentence, a figure that underlines how concentrated repeat offending has become.

The Met, the British Retail Consortium and the Retail Trust have now written to Shabana Mahmood, the Home Secretary, and David Lammy, the Justice Secretary, pressing for criminal justice reforms. Their request includes fast-tracking cases so repeat offenders appear within 72 hours of charge and tightening, more consistent enforcement of court orders. Analysis found that 97 percent continued offending while moving through the criminal justice system, raising fresh questions about whether arrest alone is doing anything to break the cycle.

Assistant Commissioner Matt Twist said the force had not always got the response to retail crime right, but argued it had changed course over the past 18 months by giving neighbourhood officers new technology to identify and arrest prolific offenders and by sharing evidence more closely with retailers. The Met says its fast-tracked Retrospective Facial Recognition process has identified unknown retail offenders at an 80.5 percent rate, and in one case linked a suspect to 52 previously unsolved offences.

The figures come as retailers warn that shoplifting has become more brazen, more organised and more aggressive since the Covid-19 pandemic, with theft up four-fold nationally. Helen Dickinson, chief executive of the British Retail Consortium, said retail theft and the violence and abuse faced by shop workers remain everyday realities for too many colleagues, even as initiatives such as Project Pegasus have improved cooperation. The Met says shoplifting across London fell by 3.7 percent last year, about 3,500 fewer offences, while arrests rose by almost 50 percent. In the 2025/26 financial year, the positive outcome rate for retail crime rose from 2,682 to 5,996, a 123 percent increase, but police and retailers alike say the same offenders keep cycling back through the system.