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Hello please can i have advice on a matter that happened a couple of weeks ago. My 17 year old teenage son was in Sainsbury's and was caught stealing a £3.50 bottle of smirnoff ice. My son says he was caught inside the shop and had not left the premises. the security guard called the police. The police gave him a telling off and said this will go on your criminal record and no further action will be taken. Sainsburys got the product backed before he left the premises. But today my son got a letter from solicitors called dwf llp stating they were instructed by sainsburys to collect £150.00 for security costs. No one made me or my son aware of this charge, the security guard didn't actually speak to me when i turn up after the police contacted me to meet them at sainsburys to collect my son and i was there within 5 minutes of the phone call, as i was in town shopping. is this charge legal or is it way of making money. My son is in full time education and i'm on benefits because of my other son who is disabled and i don't know how i am going to pay this. I would be very grateful for any advice.
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Re: Civil Recovery for shop lifting
Taken from a justice site:-
They can not take any step against a child under the age of 18.
Any Court proceedings would be automatically stayed.
So no - they can not issue proceedings against anyone under 18.
I hope this clarifies it.
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Re: Civil Recovery for shop lifting
sure others will comment also, but that is a response I found on a law site??Originally posted by MIKE770 View PostComment
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Re: Civil Recovery for shop lifting
Hi and welcome.
You are NOT going to pay this.
All you need to do is ignore this letter, and the stream of subsequent threatening letters that will be sent.
They will write many letters threatening court action (this will be civil county court) to recover these fantasy "costs".
The only people who could initiate court action against your son is Sainsbury.
However they lost nothing, and their security costs are incurred whether or not anyone tries shoplifting.
There was a case a few years back where the retailer lost heavily when they tried suing a pair of shoplifters.
Since then none of these civil recoveryfirms have gone near court.
Do not write, phone or contact these people at all.
To do so only seems to encourage them.
The only papers not to be ignored are genuine court papers, and you won't see them over this matter.
What exactly happened regarding the police involvement?
Was your son provided with an appropriate adult?
Was he provided with any paperwork?Comment
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Re: Civil Recovery for shop lifting
Hi thank you for the reply
I was his appropriate adult as the police called me and asked me to come the the sainsburys store because my son is under 18. Regarding the police involvement, they were called, one police woman turned up, she rang me as soon as she got there once she got my number from my son. I was there within 5 mins as i was in town. The police woman gave him a telling off, told him this will go on your record and no further action will be taken. That took all of 10 minutes and she was gone. The paper work that my son received was one bit from the police stating what had happen and the action has been taken, which me and my son signed. But unfortunately my son has lost this bit. My son also was given a letter from sainsburys without me knowing. he was handed the letter before i arrived and the police woman arrived and i only found it today. In the letter it states that he cant enter any sainsburys stores, and if he enters it will be trespassing. Then there is a paragraph saying the following:
Sainsbury's has a policy of pursuing civil recovery in circumstances where the company has suffered loss as a result of the actions on the individuals. Sainsbury's may therefore pass on your personal informational details to our partners and agents who work on our behalf, in accordance with this policy and in pursuit of a claim.
thank you again for advice and for replyingComment
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Re: Civil Recovery for shop lifting
Seems your son admitted the offence and received a youth or juvenile caution.
This may possibly show on any future DBS check.
Sainsbury, like many retailers, has a policy of handing details over to companies who run their own version of justice.
They are judge and jury in their own courts.
At one time we would have called them vigilantes
Ignore them
They can ban him.... their shops are private property.
So he should avoid the local store (for a time anyway), but it is practically impossible for them to police the ban nationwideComment
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Re: Civil Recovery for shop lifting
mean while - ignore the threatograms from the fleecersComment
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