Shoplifting charge

[maggieforbes]

Hi everyone,

I am extremely embarrassed and ashamed to be writing this so please no judgement. Basically last week I was caught shoplifting and the value came to £130. The police were called and I was charged and they said a report will be made to the procurator fiscal. I have a police caution from 4 years ago for shoplifting. I don’t know why I didn’t learn my lesson. I am absolutely terrified about what is going to happen. Does anybody have any experience with this issue or has this happened to anybody else?

please don’t tell me I’m definitely going to be convicted if you do not know a lot about this as my anxiety is already through the roof.

thanks in advance

[echat11]

Hi Maggie

islandgirl Can you please take a look and maybe you can advise. Many thanks.

[maggieforbes]

Forgot to mention I am in Scotland

[islandgirl]

Hi Maggie - I am sorry I only deal with shoplifting under English law and do not know how different the systems are. However if you were in England and were charged and pleaded guilty you would still be looking a fairly low level sentence (a fine around the level of your weekly income for example reduced by a third for an early guilty plea). Your previous offence would appear on our information but as it was 4 years ago it would not be too worrying. The value of the goods is quite low. Try not to worry too much. It may be that the police will want rid of the matter and perhaps caution again? I am so sorry I cannot help with specific advice for Scotland. Good luck.

[Cluemeup]

*I Am Going to keep this in place as it might help someone else im England but as you are in scotland the post after this is better suited to the practical side of your situation so please take what you need and ignore what doesnt resonate x*

Hi there please do not feel embaressed or ashamed. We Each do what we need to in order to survive and the system is hugely unjust. Luckily for you we are no longer in the dark ages and this crime is no longer seen as that much of a big deal other than by others who usually have low self esteem and play a morality card in order to feel better about themselves. Try not to let it get you down. You will move past this and hopefully also not have to be put in a position in which you feel you need to shoplift and I very much hope that is the case for you.
im afraid like others I do not know they system in scotland but I will attempt to advise you as if you were in this side of the border in England. Shoplifting is a summey only case. In short that means only a magistrate can deal with you and it will not go to a crown court. It also means the police do not have the power to bust your door down in order to arrest you AND you are not obliged to attend a voluntry interview but I assume that you were detained by shop security and then arrested on the day of the offence? It also means that the courts must see you within six months from the date of the offence. If for what ever reason you are not brought before the court within six months your case will be thrown out. I am actually surprised that they did not give you another caution as your last offence was 4 years ago but rhey probably only charged you because if the value is over £100 they can not give you a fixed penalty fine and it is quite alot to let you off with another caution but the big picture is it really isn't a huge deal at all, no matter what you are ťold. I really think that you will stand before the magistrates and rhey will either fine you or fine you and give you a 12month conditional discharge, or just give you a conditions discharge which basically means that nothing is done for now but should you be before the courts again within 12months then this offence will be looked at again as well as the current offence.
Did you not see a duty solicitor at the time of your arrest? On your court date their should be a duty solicitor you can see that is working at the court on that date. Please what ever you do, do not go Into court without a legal Representative. Also for future reference although I hope you never need it, please do not ever speak to the police without legal Representative either. I cant stress how important that it. I do not want to scare you but the police are allowed to lie and twist the facts. Even when you think you are helping them you should never speak to them without a legal advocate.
anyway, long story and I really hope things improve for you. If you can bear it please try and help yourself without harsh judgement and look at yourself as if you were your best friend. Why are you in this position and what can you do to help get out of the hard times that lead up to this offence. Sometimes we are left with no options but sometimes there are small things we can do to change our circumstances for the better. Whatever led you to this place, fianancial, drugs, mental health, abuse or something else entirely, please get the help you are entitled to and should definetly take up and seek out.
all the very best to you. Try not to worry. Courts are scary for a reason but just the fact that you feel remorse and are asking for help speaks volumes about your character. Take good care of yourself.

[Cluemeup]

I hadnt realised how different it is in scotland. Apparently you may still be in with a shot of just getting a fixed penality notice and no criminal record as in scotland the procurator fiscal doesnt make a decision on weather to charge you or not before you leave the police station like the cps does in England. I really hope this is the case for you and you are not charged x

I am going to paste some advice I found on another forum site from an actual solicitor. The person he was advising had stolen £435 worth of goods. The link is at the bottom. Hope it helps xx

If you are pleading guilty the procurator fiscal will give a brief narrative of what was stolen, the value and what was recovered. Then you or your solicitor can give a plea in mitigation saying why you did it, the fact that you are a first offender and that you are sorry, you can give a bit about your personal circumstance, the court is likely to impose a fine, which you can ask to pay in instalments, then you can go home.

https://www.justanswer.co.uk/scottis...ifting-no.html

[Cluemeup]

Also I think I found out in Scotland you will be asked to appear at the sheriff or district court. I hope that makes sense xx

[Cluemeup]

Also just finally write down why you did this and how you feel about it. One for your solicitor and for this I suggest you keep it short and concise and then prehaps once you have been Through the system write it out once more and get it out of your system. This time you can let the page have it. If you are anything like me I was literally burning with anger and shame. Unfortunately for me my first and only shoplifting offence was put into my local newspaper even though my solicitor told me how unlikely that would be and im constantly reminded by my family how much shame ive caused but ive come to realise that I really dont need people in my life like that but it took me a long long time to see that. Anyhow there are valid and personal reasons why we both shoplifted and no one is a saint. Dont carry the rage and shame around inside and turn it on its head and into an advantage. You will find a way how. I really believe that and Although I dont know you I can tell from your words that you are a better person than alot of souls in societyx

[maggieforbes]

Thank you so so much for that. I am absolutely sick with worry. I’ve been through a really hard time and I know it’s not an excuse but I’m absolutely eaten up with worry and shame about it. Your response has really made me feel better about things. As you said people make mistakes and I strongly believe this will make me a better person as it’s opened my eyes up that I do need a bit of help. I know I’m a good person with good morals, but being charged with an offence just brings so much doubt about that. Again thank you so much

[islandgirl]

That was my reply from Nov21??? Why has this thread been resurrected now? Is someone trying to increase post count?

[PallasAthena]

That was my reply from Nov21??? Why has this thread been resurrected now? Is someone trying to increase post count?

Dansonpas is a spam bot and I have reported it.

If you look at its posting history it operates by re-posting an earlier post in the thread. Usually the post immediately before it, although in this case it went further back (probably found cluemeup's lengthy posts too difficult to paraphrase!).In this case it has copied and re-posted you verbatim, normally it paraphrases. I imagine the reason it is programmed to do that is to bypass automatic spam filters.

Why anyone wants to let it loose to waste everyone's time is mystery to me.

[islandgirl]

well well every day is a school day! Thank you so much PallasAthena

[Huxie]

The spammer or spam bot often hides its spam link in the quoted text. In this instance its a link to a wordle site.

[PallasAthena]

How do you find that Huxie ?

EDIT: I've found it. The link is invisible text in the quoted text in the space after 'Many thanks'. My pointer changes to a little hand if I go there. And if I highlight the whole of the quoted text the invisible link appears - "wordle today" appears in very small font.

Do you know why spammers do it? It can't be to get people to click the link!

[atticus]

SEO. The presence of the link is detected, and is intended to boost the linked site up search engine rankings.