New fightback against 'scary' shoplifting gangs - from AI to citizens' arrests

EXCLUSIVE: New fightback against 'scary' shoplifting gangs - from AI to citizens' arrestsA report on ITV's Tonight reveals that shoplifting on an industrial scale is costing our retailers nearly half a billion pounds a year and forcing up prices for customersCommentsNewsAmanda Killelea Feature Writer and Hannah Britt, Senior Reporter Mirror Features20:27, 15 Apr 2026View 6 ImagesAn ITV Tonight programme reveals that the UK has a shoplifting problem - and it's costing shoppers millions of pounds(Image: Supplied)Targeting high-value goods, thieves are clearing entire shelves, often stealing to order. Dr Emmeline Taylor, a broadcaster and professor of criminology, says: “It’s hugely impacting the retail sector, but also our communities.” Clapham in south-west London hit headlines this month, when scores of teenagers looted high street outlets. Now an investigation by the Tonight programme has examined the devastating effect of prolific shoplifting on small businesses and how they are fighting back.‌Sigga Redfern* launched a boutique in east London’s trendy Shoreditch eight years ago. Describing the shoplifting, she says: “It’s a massive problem. They just come, run in, grab everything they can and then run out again. They take the hangers, they take the alarms, they take all of it.”‌Theft costs Sigga, who cannot afford security guards, up to £1,000 a week. And she is forced to confront the shoplifters herself. Employee Ruth Evans*, 25, adds: “It’s quite scary, to be honest.” Ruth recalled a raid by four men in balaclavas, saying they took a whole shelf each. Sigga says some of her staff have been too scared to work there, adding: “They simply don’t feel safe.”‌View 6 ImagesSigga's shop is raided by shoplifters (Image: Supplied)She reports the raids, but says she is just given a crime number. The Metropolitan Police told Tonight shoplifting arrests increased by 50% last year and the number of cases they solved nearly doubled from 2024. A sp...