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Hello,
I got 'caught' (will explain further down) shoplifting at M&S in England, and am looking for advice. I understand it is unethical and I wont be stealing again.
I will explain what happened, and would appreciate non-judgemental advice on the situation.
I went to M&S to collect a delivery. I got the delivery. Then I looked around for a bit, I saw some clothes I liked and tried them on. I decided I would attempt to steal them. I walked around for a while, thinking of my options, and also ripped the tags off the items — I did this in from inside the clothes so as out of view of cameras or anyone watching. I pretended to look at other clothes and put the tags in the pockets of other items. Then I went to the food section of the shop, and bought a small item. I went and paid for it at the food tills. I genuinely did not know that you can buy items from the clothing end of the store in the food area, so I didn't think there was an issue. I then went and looked around in the food section and was in a row near the exit.
I then got stopped by a 'store recovery officer' (I think thats the title he provided). Apparently he had been watching me for a while, for which he provided evidence by telling me something I did near the beginning. I denied any wrongdoing and expressed I did not realise that you could buy clothes at the food section. They said I had 'passed the point of payment' (as I paid for the food item) or something akin to that as to justification for this. He took me to a room along with a security guard and they took my id, took a photo, my address, and gave me a 'civil recovery / trespass notice' form that dictates I will be requested to pay an amount for of security, detection, apprehension and other loss recovery costs, and the price of the goods (which they took from me). He did not seem to know about the tags until he saw that they were missing. The man said I will receive a letter regarding the payment. I never admitted guilt.
The cost of the items were around £80–£100.
Police were not involved in any capacity.
I would like advice on this please, and I have some questions.
If those questions are able to be answered or any other relevant advice given, I would be grateful.
Thank you.
I got 'caught' (will explain further down) shoplifting at M&S in England, and am looking for advice. I understand it is unethical and I wont be stealing again.
I will explain what happened, and would appreciate non-judgemental advice on the situation.
I went to M&S to collect a delivery. I got the delivery. Then I looked around for a bit, I saw some clothes I liked and tried them on. I decided I would attempt to steal them. I walked around for a while, thinking of my options, and also ripped the tags off the items — I did this in from inside the clothes so as out of view of cameras or anyone watching. I pretended to look at other clothes and put the tags in the pockets of other items. Then I went to the food section of the shop, and bought a small item. I went and paid for it at the food tills. I genuinely did not know that you can buy items from the clothing end of the store in the food area, so I didn't think there was an issue. I then went and looked around in the food section and was in a row near the exit.
I then got stopped by a 'store recovery officer' (I think thats the title he provided). Apparently he had been watching me for a while, for which he provided evidence by telling me something I did near the beginning. I denied any wrongdoing and expressed I did not realise that you could buy clothes at the food section. They said I had 'passed the point of payment' (as I paid for the food item) or something akin to that as to justification for this. He took me to a room along with a security guard and they took my id, took a photo, my address, and gave me a 'civil recovery / trespass notice' form that dictates I will be requested to pay an amount for of security, detection, apprehension and other loss recovery costs, and the price of the goods (which they took from me). He did not seem to know about the tags until he saw that they were missing. The man said I will receive a letter regarding the payment. I never admitted guilt.
The cost of the items were around £80–£100.
Police were not involved in any capacity.
I would like advice on this please, and I have some questions.
- Should I respond to the inevitable letter? Other advice I have seen online says to ignore. (Source). Apparently RLP went to court once and failed.
- If I do not pay, is it a genuine possibility it will go to court? Apparently as of 2010 Retail Loss Prevention had never successfully litigated a contested court claim in respect of an unpaid demand, though I am not sure what the situation is now. (Source). The price of the items was low (less than £100) and I feel as though the evidence is circumstantial at best (I genuinely did not know you could buy clothing items at the food section; the most damning evidence is that I removed the tags).
- If it does go to court, what are the consequences of this? Do I risk a criminal record or some other 'mark' on my permanent record? Could this affect employability or have other long lasting issues?
- Is it in my best interests to just cut my losses and pay the fee? What if the fee is extortionate and not representative of damages. (Noting that there were no damages, staff are on pay roll and they did not lose or have damage done to the items).
- The civil recovery man was making threats that I could get kicked out of university for this (they know which university I attend). Is this just a hollow threat?
If those questions are able to be answered or any other relevant advice given, I would be grateful.
Thank you.
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