CRS Ltd, 15 year old searched, detained, told to sign confession, no adult notified

[Handy Andy]

Good afternoon,

I am looking for some assistance and possible legal clarification please, my son who is 15 was stopped while leaving a Poundland store in Southampton on 17th March 2018 on suspicion of shoplifting.
He was lead to an office by the security guard who then asked for his details, parents details and then proceeded to search his pockets.

After finding 1 kinder egg on his person he then called me to say my son was caught shoplifting and he was working on behalf of Hampshire constabulary for poundland and would be happy to give him a fine instead of calling the police to arrest him.

Unfortunately as I was in the departures lounge at Gatwick just about to board a plane for work I said yes just do whatever and let him go, according to my son the guard then got him to sign a confession and they sent him on his way with no paperwork or anything.

2 weeks later we have a letter of civil recovery from CRS Ltd demanding payment of £103.93 on behalf of Poundland Limited.

They are claiming this is for investigation, security & administration costs incurred as a consequence of his actions.

My question is this:

Are they just trying it on for money ?

Im assuming they didn't want to call the police because then they wouldn't get bugger all as they wouldn't take it any further due to it being so minor and a first offence.

Many thanks in advance for any help,

Andy

[jaguarsuk]

he was working on behalf of Hampshire constabulary for poundland

Are they just trying it on for money ?

Im assuming they didn't want to call the police because then they wouldn't get bugger all as they wouldn't take it any further due to it being so minor and a first offence.

Many thanks in advance for any help,

Firstly Hi Andy and Welcome.

Impersonating a Police Officer is a very serious offence and one I would report to Hampshire Police if it were me.

Yes, they're trying it on for money and you should not pay. This is a common speculative invoice for shop lifters, the security officer recovered the goods and as it's his job to be there whether a shoplifter is present or not have suffered no loss. Investigating, Security and Admin are his job he gets paid for regardless.

Your son is under the age of 18, therefore cannot sign or admit to anything without provision of an appropriate adult be that a parent or social worker.

The Police aren't attending for burglaries anymore, so a kinder egg isn't going to be getting their priority and the security officer knows it, that's why the police weren't called. Plus if they call the police they don't get to attempt to extort you.

You're going to get a few more letters threatening court action, but these companies tried it once and lets just say they'll never try again with the spanking the judge gave them.

[Handy Andy]

Hi JaguarsUK,

Thank you very much for the welcome and that was an informative and straight to the point answer, just what I was looking for.

The thing that concerned me the most was the fact that the guy grabbed my son and pretty much dragged him into the store and then into the security office, this is quite a harrowing experience for a kid and they actually hurt his arm.

Thanks again,

Andy

[Handy Andy]

Also here is the letter from CRS limited to my 15 year old boy.

Thanks

[Kati]

Personally, I think that both yourself and your son should just ignore the letter ... crs will probably send a few more (they make great hamster bedding lol )

[Kati]

tagging des8 ostell Celestine xx

[jaguarsuk]

Hi JaguarsUK,

Thank you very much for the welcome and that was an informative and straight to the point answer, just what I was looking for.

The thing that concerned me the most was the fact that the guy grabbed my son and pretty much dragged him into the store and then into the security office, this is quite a harrowing experience for a kid and they actually hurt his arm.

Thanks again,

Andy

It's not unheard of for someone committing a crime to be injured and launch a claim against the victim whom injured them. However I'm sure the officer will say your son was struggling and he used fair/proportionate force to restrain him while committing a criminal offence.

The security will be contracted out in poundland I'd imagine, probably to CRS and any engagement with them only spurs them on to try to extort the money out of you. In other words you'll probably receive double the letters you would if you just ignore.

I'm a parent and I get the anger, but I think you'll have to let this go and him chalk this up to experience given the circumstances.

[Phaeton]

The thing that concerned me the most was the fact that the guy grabbed my son and pretty much dragged him into the store and then into the security office, this is quite a harrowing experience for a kid and they actually hurt his arm.

Let's hope in some ways it was harrowing enough to make him think twice next time

[des8]

Completely agree with the advice, especially regarding ignoring CRS.

Besides possibly using excessive force I wonder if the security goon obtained your son's consent to be searched.
Also as your son is only 15 years old, any offence would be dealt with in a youth court.
This means his detention by the security guard was illegal as citizen arrest powers only relate to indictable offences i.e. offences which are triable in crown court section 24A of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1974.
Having said that pragmatically I would let it go.

[Handy Andy]

All wonderful advice and info, thanks so much for your quick responses and forgot to mention he has been given a firm telling off, a month with no Xbox seems to end the world lol.

just didn' want you guys to think I was one of them parents just trying to get my chav teen out of trouble.

many thanks again,

Andy

[dave top]

Take a look at my thread Andy, it's very similar to your situation, Poundland & CRS, just be aware and be prepared just in case , i too ignored them but they have taken it all the way and im currently having to defend against it

http://legalbeagles.info/forums/foru...ential-damages

[jaguarsuk]

Take a look at my thread Andy, it's very similar to your situation, Poundland & CRS, just be aware and be prepared just in case , i too ignored them but they have taken it all the way and im currently having to defend against it

http://legalbeagles.info/forums/foru...ential-damages

I think yours is slightly different as the goods were not recovered and therefore there is a cause of action.

Where the goods are recovered the store have suffered no loss and as such have no cause of action to recover the loss as there was none.

[dave top]

I think yours is slightly different as the goods were not recovered and therefore there is a cause of action.

Where the goods are recovered the store have suffered no loss and as such have no cause of action to recover the loss as there was none.

Thanks i understand, so are you saying that if goods are not recovered thay can make a claim for what they call investigation costs, security costs and administration costs ? i thought that was not possible re: oxford case.

[jaguarsuk]

Thanks i understand, so are you saying that if goods are not recovered thay can make a claim for what they call investigation costs, security costs and administration costs ? i thought that was not possible re: oxford case.

No I am stating they can't per the oxford case make a claim for spurious costs such as the investigation costs, security costs and administration costs as that case determined these are would have been costs incurred whether a theft took place or not as general running costs of a store.

What I meant and maybe wasn't clear enough about, so I apologise, is that the difference between this thread and the others you have read is that the goods were recovered in those instances. As such no claims can be brought as due to the oxford case the stores in question didn't have any loss to recover in court.

In your particular case the good weren't recovered, that doesn't mean they can claim the spurious costs, but it does mean they can claim for their loss - the £70 of goods they are missing. They can only claim for those goods plus court fees though.

And frankly I'd want an itemised list of how they have calculated the value of the lost goods because your lad is a prolific master thief to get away with 70 instances of theft in a poundshop over 6 months if they're being truthful - which they won't be!

I have added some other thoughts on your thread.