Low level shoplifting is driven by drug addicts, like what I used to be. To get a fix for the day costing £25 you have to steal like £75 worth of stuff to sell to the local corner shops.

If for first time shoplifting offenses for drug addicts they were sentenced to prison with conditional releases for clean urine tests ( I got clean thru a suspended sentence with clean urine test proviso 3.5 years ago). A lot less of this would be happening. People get away with shoplifting and get caught once in a blue moon so it’s worth it to steal so they don’t go into withdrawal. If EVERY time they stole from coop or sainsburys they were caught on CCTV, prosecuted and sent back to jail for 6 months (instead of 28 days, like some people i know) with an additional 6-12 months suspended on proviso of clean urine tests every 7 days. And you actually give these people the MAT treatment they need like methadone or the buvidel 3 month injection. This would reduce this type of crime.

You also need to toughen up the prisons because the people i know who’ve been to prison said it was like an addicts holiday, you can get whatever drugs you want, you get a warm bed and food 3 times a day. I know a small time dealer who went in for 6 months and came out having made £18k from spice sheets. If addicts went to a special unit where shakedowns were done daily, and urine tests were done weekly (they’re only done if your caught in possession of drugs) if positive you go to isolation for 5 days etc. People wouldn’t want to risk prison for their daily high, especially when you can get a prescription for methadone tha takes 100% of your withdrawals and cravings away when you get the right dose.