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Hello everyone,
If at all possible I would like to receive some advice. I was caught shoplifting yesterday. It was opportunity and stress over not having enough funds to buy Christmas presents for all my loved ones. Regardless, that is no excuse, trust me, my self-loathing has reached new hights.
I went into H&M as I needed to buy something, and noticed that 2 clothing items that would have been a nice gift for my friend didn't have the alarm tags on and stupidly decided to put them in the bag where the item I had already paid for was. Not getting caught when exiting the store must have made me feel invincible and driven me mad, because I then went on to shoplift from M&S, again, for same reason, no alarm tags. Finally I went into Boots and was stopped by a security officer when I was leaving the store with all the items. They took me into a room at the back of the store, where they had 2 monitors with CCTV footage. The security officer that stopped me, the head of security or LP manager (he was in plain clothes) and a female sales assistant were all in the room. At that point I was already seeing my life in ruins, so I did not lie, I was more than apologetic and forthcoming. I offered to pay for the items, they refused. I asked them if they would call the police. They asked me why I didn't want the police involved, and I told them because I am employed and did not want to lose my job. I emptied my bags, they realized I have things from other shops as well. The LP person went out with the items from Boots and rang them up at the till, it came up to 223 pounds (!!!). I just want to mention that all of the people in that room were more than kind, polite and nice. While clearly disapproving of my actions, they did not abuse their positions in any way. Other than saying that if I didn't have an ID they could call the police, they did not intimidate me in any way. I only had a student ID and a payslip to provide for details. They took my name, address, phone number and NI number.
They did not call the police.
All of this happened in Westfield, so they called the head of security of the mall as well. He gave me a 2 year ban. The LP manager also gave me a letter of exclusion from Boots. He said it's for one year. Both of them took my pictures. The Westfield security officer said they use face recognition software so it was best if I truly stayed away.
They told me they would be returning the items to the other stores as well. They let me keep the item I paid for.
The LP manager gave me the civil recovery notice and told me to expect the fine to be double the value of the items and that there would be consequences if I did not pay.
I regret my actions, I think I was stupid and iresponsible and could have done irreparable damage to my life and career. I am not looking for sympathy. I made a mistake and there are no excuses for it.
I am very concerned how this may affect me long term. How likely is it for Boots to involve the police if RLP informs them I ignored their letters? Even though the amount they would be asking for far exceeds the loss I would have caused them (the good were recovered and were all in perfect condition) would it be better just to pay so that I don't increase my chances of having to go to court and having this incident go on record?
What does RLP do with my information? Is there any way I could stop them from sharing this incident/my information with third parties (excluding the police). I read about Ciresco and saw that they have an "integrity check" service. Would they pass on my information to Ciresco to store in their database. Is that legal? Is there a way I can stop that?
What happens to the picture Boots and Westfield have of me? How is that being used or circulated?
I would just like to put this awful event behind me. The thought of having to worry that this will affect my future employment applications or any sort of background check for many years to come is distressing me to the point where I can't focus or think about anything else.
Does anyone have experience with a Westfield ban? I only ask because I sometimes go to the cinema with my friends there and they would find it suspicious if I suddenly refused to go. I don't want to risk anything, and I will stay away, I just want to know how likely am I to get flagged by their cameras in 6 months, or a year?
Many thanks in advance for any advice you might have for me!
If at all possible I would like to receive some advice. I was caught shoplifting yesterday. It was opportunity and stress over not having enough funds to buy Christmas presents for all my loved ones. Regardless, that is no excuse, trust me, my self-loathing has reached new hights.
I went into H&M as I needed to buy something, and noticed that 2 clothing items that would have been a nice gift for my friend didn't have the alarm tags on and stupidly decided to put them in the bag where the item I had already paid for was. Not getting caught when exiting the store must have made me feel invincible and driven me mad, because I then went on to shoplift from M&S, again, for same reason, no alarm tags. Finally I went into Boots and was stopped by a security officer when I was leaving the store with all the items. They took me into a room at the back of the store, where they had 2 monitors with CCTV footage. The security officer that stopped me, the head of security or LP manager (he was in plain clothes) and a female sales assistant were all in the room. At that point I was already seeing my life in ruins, so I did not lie, I was more than apologetic and forthcoming. I offered to pay for the items, they refused. I asked them if they would call the police. They asked me why I didn't want the police involved, and I told them because I am employed and did not want to lose my job. I emptied my bags, they realized I have things from other shops as well. The LP person went out with the items from Boots and rang them up at the till, it came up to 223 pounds (!!!). I just want to mention that all of the people in that room were more than kind, polite and nice. While clearly disapproving of my actions, they did not abuse their positions in any way. Other than saying that if I didn't have an ID they could call the police, they did not intimidate me in any way. I only had a student ID and a payslip to provide for details. They took my name, address, phone number and NI number.
They did not call the police.
All of this happened in Westfield, so they called the head of security of the mall as well. He gave me a 2 year ban. The LP manager also gave me a letter of exclusion from Boots. He said it's for one year. Both of them took my pictures. The Westfield security officer said they use face recognition software so it was best if I truly stayed away.
They told me they would be returning the items to the other stores as well. They let me keep the item I paid for.
The LP manager gave me the civil recovery notice and told me to expect the fine to be double the value of the items and that there would be consequences if I did not pay.
I regret my actions, I think I was stupid and iresponsible and could have done irreparable damage to my life and career. I am not looking for sympathy. I made a mistake and there are no excuses for it.
I am very concerned how this may affect me long term. How likely is it for Boots to involve the police if RLP informs them I ignored their letters? Even though the amount they would be asking for far exceeds the loss I would have caused them (the good were recovered and were all in perfect condition) would it be better just to pay so that I don't increase my chances of having to go to court and having this incident go on record?
What does RLP do with my information? Is there any way I could stop them from sharing this incident/my information with third parties (excluding the police). I read about Ciresco and saw that they have an "integrity check" service. Would they pass on my information to Ciresco to store in their database. Is that legal? Is there a way I can stop that?
What happens to the picture Boots and Westfield have of me? How is that being used or circulated?
I would just like to put this awful event behind me. The thought of having to worry that this will affect my future employment applications or any sort of background check for many years to come is distressing me to the point where I can't focus or think about anything else.
Does anyone have experience with a Westfield ban? I only ask because I sometimes go to the cinema with my friends there and they would find it suspicious if I suddenly refused to go. I don't want to risk anything, and I will stay away, I just want to know how likely am I to get flagged by their cameras in 6 months, or a year?
Many thanks in advance for any advice you might have for me!
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