Shopkeeper told off

'Old Meg' do not get me wrong. If I saw a theft in progress I would do what I could! My own DD chased a youth who was on a stolen bike and made him give it back!
In this case the shopkeeper should have given all evidence to the police. What if someone recognised the thief and tipped him off or beat him up? Either way would have been a bad outcome!

The Police were wrong! As it was a public place and the camera(s) were visible, privacy is not an issue. Otherwise, the Police themselves would not be able to post photographs and CCTV of criminals.

In this case the theft and the thief are caught on camera and not likely to be ‘wrongly convicted’ though.

Common sense has to prevail. If the police can’t or won’t identify him because it’s low priority in their view, amd we’re hearing this more and more, then the shopkeeper is simply being pro-active. Chances are the thief sells the tablet to buy drugs, amd steals on a regular basis to support his habit.

There is no ‘of course victims need support and protection but’......about it in this instance. Society needs protection too.

Well said PECS.
Of course victims need support and protection but the important thing is that innocent people are not wrongly convicted.
If evidence is compromised, or due process not followed, that is more likely to happen.

Pity the ‘legal system’ is so inadequate then. I’m sure most of us are quite ‘civilised’ thank you PECS but somewhere between the Lynch Mob and leaving it all to the police there is much we can do for ourselves.

I’ve handed in dashcam evidence recently and DH once tackled a thief in a opticians ?.

We have a legal system to prevent vigilante behaviour..it is what civilised society does. I agree the thief needs catching & punishing but with the good evidence available the police would have dealt with it. Nobody, even a victim, is beyond the law.

Too much support for thieves and other criminals and not enough for victims.

A builder near us had written, in large black letters on his white van, the names of people who owe him money fir work done and despite constant requests haven’t paid up.

Good for him.

Gabriella can I ask why the CPS wouldn’t prosecute in this case?
Is CCTV evidence not admissible or what?
Or is it that because the shopkeeper distributed the images, it would prejudice a trial?

I totally support this shop keeper,I'm sorry if you are going to break the law,you lose your human rights ,end of story!
This country has become ridiculous,we are so afraid of offending offenders,you make the choice to act as you do ,you must expect that people are not going to stand by and do nothing,I have enormous respect for our police,but they are just not doing much about these petty crimes.

You rarely see cops on the beat anymore! we live in a rural area on a farm,and used to have a officer who called in once a month,and we get a lot of crime.

We had someone I in our kitchen late one night ,we heard the door open and he was prowling around the kitchen,we rang 999, no show ,and were phoned up and given a incident number,a drunk driver drove a car Into our garden after midnight and ran of up our lane,no show another incident number.twice we have rung 101 both times no answer,after a hour of constant ringing,so people are trying to do something themselves.

Why should we just take it when someone decides they want what you have,and the police say you are wrong!
If you dont want your face all over the Internet, don't nick other people's stuff!

I read that item as well, there were some cracking pictures of the thief.

The world is going crazy

Diggingdoris I remember watching a programme about Oxford Street a few years ago and they had a system for warning each other about shoplifters in the area and they sent cctv to each other. The amount they lose, it would probably be worth paying any fines if they did breach the DPA which needs serious review.

This is an horrific story and very scary for us all.

Have we got to the stage where criminals are no longer afraid of the police? If not, then once we do get to that point, well heaven help us all.

Far too often criminals, petty or otherwise, are the ones protected by the law, not the victims of the crimes they commit. It's wrong!!
I too support the shop keeper.

I'm with the shopkeeper on this. Well done him.

I'm for the shopkeeper as well, it seems our society protects the perpetrators far more than the victims.

This happened in the town where I live. No name was mentioned on the poster so I think the shopkeeper was right. Why should the criminal have more rights than the victim?

Our local Neighborhood Watch group has put information on their Facebook page to say that the Police have informed them that if CCTV evidence is posted on line - as a video - it cannot be used in evidence at any subsequent trial, as jurors may have seen it and been influencd by it. However, a single clear frame from the video, if it shows someone's face, can be posted with a request for identification.

This was in the town where I live, and the shopkeeper was advising people to watch out for this thief as there had been several break-ins in shops near to his. I support his idea.

Since when were victims of crime treated like criminals? If the police won't/can't do their job (unless it's prosecuting motorists) then it's inevitable that people will take the law into their own hands. Well done the shopkeeper.

Sorry Jaycee5 - I see you mentioned CCTV notices.

Re the police community support officers, CCTV and data protection, you now need CCTV signage which acts as a disclosure to those who could potentially be within the frame of your camera.
Maybe this shop wasn't compliant?
Do we know?
Were the PCSOs just generally warning about data handling?
Was there anyone else in shot?
Also, when you transfer data to another business it is potentially a data breach as you are sharing data with another organisation. Clearly this shopkeeper has shared with a number of local businesses.
I think once again the BBC report is rather slim. It leaves us with too many questions and too few answers, unfortunately.
Obviously delighted he got his tablet back!

Sorry, some terrible grammar in there!

My neighbour's son was seriously beaten by some youths in the area and had his jaw broken in 4 places plus teeth knocked out. Evidence was lost because initially the police didn't take the offence seriously, they thought it was just a "youth fight with alcohol involved." We all knew the perpetrators, they were boasting about it in the local pub but it was difficult to get anybody to give evidence so our neighbour put out a post on social media asking for help and offering a small reward. Everyone who came forward was dismissed by the police on the grounds she had compromised the evidence by using social media. The consequences were that the perpetrators got away scot free. It seems to me that our legal system is entirely biased towards the offender unless it is a normally law abiding citizen who doesn't put their trust in the police.

I agree with the shopkeeper, I would have done the same thing in his shoes! Instead of going round to tell him off they could have spent the time looking for the thief! It would have been better use of their time.