RLP advice re shoplifting

[Seesaw]

Hi
Hi hoping someone can give me some advice, unfortunately much to my disgust my brother was caught shoplifting from Tesco a couple of days a go, I was very shocked when he told me and when I asked what he had taken and why he said 'I took a couple packets of chicken, I put them at the bottom of my bag and paid for some other stuff' He said he had done this because he had very little money left to live on.

I know he is struggling money wise and he is on his own, and I am his only confident.

I assume he openly admitted this as the police were called and he was given a £80 fixed penalty ticket and told nothing further would happen. He deeply regrets this, but what he seems more worried about is that he was given a leaflet and told he would be contacted by RLP for civil recovery costs.

he hasn't had the letter yet, but I am worried that when he does this could send him over the edge as he has MH issues. I have done some research and seen that fees can amount into the 100's. He just about has enough to pay the £80 although he will have to use a credit card.

what can be done, I personally feel he has paid the price for his wrongdoing, he has been fined a hefty amount and banned from tescos. Criminally once he has paid the fine nothing more can be done, so this is then a civil recovery, is this legal?

i want to help him as I'm all he has.

[ploddertom]

Re: RLP advice re shoplifting

Have a good read of some of he threads at http://www.legalbeagles.info/forums/...Civil-Recovery

[bluebottle]

Re: RLP advice re shoplifting

Was the fine for alleged theft of the chicken or having poor taste in shoplifting at Tesco? Only joking. If Tesco recovered the chicken and it was in a saleable condition and they put it back on sale, they have suffered no loss and, therefore, cannot legitimately make a civil claim. If he does get a letter from RLP, come back onto this thread.

[Seesaw]

Re: RLP advice re shoplifting

Was the fine for alleged theft of the chicken or having poor taste in shoplifting at Tesco? Only joking. If Tesco recovered the chicken and it was in a saleable condition and they put it back on sale, they have suffered no loss and, therefore, cannot legitimately make a civil claim. If he does get a letter from RLP, come back onto this thread.

Thanks will do, I'm not sure if it was put back on sale, I am going to see him today so will ask and if he does get a letter will come back many thanks

[wales01man]

Re: RLP advice re shoplifting

Hopefully the chicken was not put back out then hopefully he learnt a lesson and RLP keep out of it

[Seesaw]

Re: RLP advice re shoplifting

Was the fine for alleged theft of the chicken or having poor taste in shoplifting at Tesco? Only joking. If Tesco recovered the chicken and it was in a saleable condition and they put it back on sale, they have suffered no loss and, therefore, cannot legitimately make a civil claim. If he does get a letter from RLP, come back onto this thread.

He got his letter today, I have to say although I think he is a complete idiot for doing this, I don't see how this is fair, surely its two bites at the cherry? I am sure he would be more than happy to pay for any losses in regards food items, but £147!!!

[Salmon Man]

Re: RLP advice re shoplifting

I would write directly to the manager of the store, stating his case with an apology, and explaining his circumstances, and ask if they will accept installments, mentioning that any legal proceedings would only place him in severe hardship where they may not be able to recover the costs at all. Worth a try.

[gravytrain]

Re: RLP advice re shoplifting

There is much written in this and many other forums about these "invoices".
The advice given by the CAB at one point was just to ignore them, I think it is fair to say that they have very little or no validity in law.
They will argue otherwise of course, but at the end of the day they very very seldomly take anyone to court over one of these bills and when they do they loose, in 99.9% of the cases.
In the main they depend on people just paying up because they are intimidated by their legal jargon. You could write back and say that you do not acknowledge that they have any right in law to fix an approximate rate for damages in a civil action, or that the time used in policing their stores form part of the operating budget and therefore does not constitute a loss that can be claimed as damages, but to be honest they have heard it all before.
No one can tell you what to do and I for one would not seek to advise you either way, I can only say that if it were me I would put it in the bin and follow it up by putting any further correspondance from them along side it.

[Nikolai]

Re: RLP advice re shoplifting

These jokers have no basis in law for making such demands. They are trying to frighten, and clearly get away with it on a regular basis because if everyone stood up to their pathetic threats they just wouldn't be in business. They are preying on the vulnerable.
What, in law, have they lost? The price of the goods, maybe, if they didn't put them back on sale. The staff involved were all on salary, so they would have been paid anyway, whatever their duties, whether attending to shoplifters or engaged on other duties within the store. The store did not have to pay the police for their involvement, so no losses there.
If they are dumb enough to commence county court proceedings the amount of the claim dictates that it will be a small claims procedure, which does not entitle the claimant to recover its legal costs for the action. All that is recoverable is a small fee they pay to the court to start the case and another small fee on judgement being entered in their favour - but first they have to win! You can bet RLP won't do the legal work themselves but will have to instruct solicitors - and this costs them money, which they cannot recover, so it's unlikely they'll start court action.
I'd be inclined to write back and say that any civil proceedings will be strenuously defended and that you will be happy to argue your case before a district judge. Call their bluff - there is nothing to lose by doing so.

[Celestine]

Re: RLP advice re shoplifting

Please read here:

http://legalbeagles.info/rlp-and-the...-and-the-lies/

Ignore these demands utterly. The 'business model' of Civil Recovery demands relies on public ignorance.

[Guest]

Re: RLP advice re shoplifting

I thought this was 'wanting advice on shoplifting', I may need to go to bed.

[Guest]

Re: RLP advice re shoplifting

Was the fine for alleged theft of the chicken or having poor taste in shoplifting at Tesco?

Please God, we are NOT talking about theft of chicken.
N~o~o~o~o~o~oooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!! :rofl:
Please forgive me, Seesaw - good luck with your brother.
The last time I saw a man with chicken in his rucksack, I had a romantic time with him.
It ended rather quickly, though, when I got a s21 notice, later.
Didn't check if the things were Tescos or Sainsburys, mebbe that was the problem...

[CleverClogs]

Re: RLP advice re shoplifting

I thought this was 'wanting advice on shoplifting', I may need to go to bed.

My advice on shoplifting from Tesco is threefold:

1. Don't; it's dishonest and you'll regret it someday
2. If you must, don't get caught
3. Have you considered shopping somewhere better, such as Netto or Lidl ?

[CleverClogs]

Re: RLP advice re shoplifting

He got his letter today, I have to say although I think he is a complete idiot for doing this, I don't see how this is fair, surely its two bites at the cherry? I am sure he would be more than happy to pay for any losses in regards food items, but £147!!!

Have you spotted the truthful statement in that farrago?

Provided our client does not seek to recover in excess of its losses, such losses are recoverable in law.

Yet that is exactly what they seek to do - and why the Oxford case failed so utterly!

[bluebottle]

Re: RLP advice re shoplifting

As per usual, RLP makes demands, but does not set out EXACTLY how the OP has committed the alleged wrongdoings and how and in what way their client has suffered loss, if at all. My advice is to ignore. If they start cranking things up, it might be worth considering legally-restraining RLP and their client. It would be interesting to see how RLP and their client react to that.