Thousands of Britain’s most prolific shoplifters could avoid prison under new Labour plans, with retailers warning of potential chaos and supermarket bosses calling for security staff to be equipped with pepper spray.
The new laws, which scrap most prison sentences of under one year, could allow up to 12,000 repeat offenders to avoid jail.
The changes stem from the Sentencing Act introduced last year, which restricts magistrates and judges to imposing one-year prison terms only in ‘exceptional circumstances.’
According to Ministry of Justice data, 98 per cent of shoplifters currently in prison would be eligible for alternative ‘community punishments’ under the new system.
This is despite shoplifting offences in England and Wales rising by five per cent in the year to September 2025, reaching 519,381, as per the latest ONS figures.
Levels remain just below the record 530,439 offences recorded in the year to March 2025.
The law, which came into force last month, was introduced to ease overcrowding in prisons. However, it has raised concerns that removing a strong deterrent could lead to a rise in shoplifting.
Lord Walker of Broxton, executive chairman of Iceland, said that ‘just one incident of violence against my staff is too many,’ pointing to the example of armed security guards in Spain to tackle rising retail crime.
New Labour laws, which scrap most prison sentences of under one year, could allow up to 12,000 repeat offenders to avoid jail
Ministry of Justice data has revealed 98 per cent of shoplifters currently in prison would be eligible for alternative ‘community punishments’ under the new system
Speaking to The Times, he said: ‘I’ve always argued for more powers for security guards. You go to Spain and all the security guards have pepper spray and a truncheon, they don’t mess about.’
It comes as Marks and Spencer’s retail director, Thinus Keeve, said frontline staff are facing violence and abuse on a daily basis.
The retail giant faced unrest earlier this week at a store in Clapham, south London, where hundreds of youths swarmed high street shops as part of an online trend.
Mr Keeve has urged Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood and London Mayor Sir Sadiq Khan to take stronger action to tackle record levels of the crime, warning that shoplifters have become more ‘brazen,’ ‘organised,’ and ‘aggressive’ in their attacks on staff.
Lord Walker agreed with his fellow high street boss.
He said: ‘We call it shoplifting, which sounds like a cheeky bit of pilfering, but actually we should just call it out for what it is, which is violent crime.
‘We all saw the footage of marauding gangs and security guards being beaten up.
‘The violent nature of it in Clapham is horrific.’
A survey by the Institute of Customer Service found that 43 per cent of frontline staff had faced hostility or abuse from customers in the past six months
Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp has warned that shoplifting will ‘snowball out of control’ under Labour’s new sentencing reforms.
Speaking to the Telegraph, he said: ‘Even prolific shoplifters generally get less than a year in prison at the moment. So Labour’s plan to abolish prison sentences of under a year means that shoplifters will never go to prison at all.
‘This means there will be no effective punishment for shoplifting and it will escalate even further. This is a shoplifters’ charter and means shop theft will snowball out of control.’
Jo Causon, head of the Institute of Customer Service – which represents 350 businesses across Britain – added that the Government had shown ‘no real engagement’ with firms over rising crime on high streets, warning it poses a serious risk to economic growth.
This comes despite shoplifting costing the economy an estimated £2 billion last year and threats of violence against retail staff approaching their highest levels in 30 years.
Indeed, a survey of 1,000 customer-facing workers in Britain by the Institute of Customer Service found that 43 per cent of frontline staff had faced hostility or abuse from customers in the past six months – a rise of seven per cent up from the year before.
The report – released in October 2025 – also revealed that 22 per cent of respondents had been threatened with physical violence.
In addition, 40 per cent of service workers said abuse and aggression occur so frequently that they feel reporting it is pointless, while 35 per cent of those who had experienced aggression said they were contemplating leaving their roles.
Shoplifting costs the economy an estimated £2 billion last year and threats of violence against retail staff approaching their highest levels in 30 years
Ms Causon said the events at M&S are ‘yet another reminder that abuse, hostility and criminal behaviour towards frontline workers is far too common – and all too often goes unpunished.
‘This is not isolated to one brand or one sector: it is part of a much wider trend across our high streets and communities.
‘For too many people working in customer-facing roles – whether in retail, hospitality, transport, or services – intimidation, threats and violence have become a grim part of the working day.’
A Ministry of Justice spokesman said: ‘This government inherited a prison system on the brink of collapse.
‘The suspension of short sentences is part of wider, urgent reform to ensure our prison system isn’t pushed to the brink of collapse ever again and dangerous criminals are kept off our streets.
‘It would be wrong to suggest every short sentence for shoplifting will be suspended – particularly in the case of reoffenders.
‘However, evidence shows that community orders and suspended sentences act as a more successful deterrent to reoffending than prison time.
‘This government is committed to punishment that works as we tackle recurring shoplifting which blights our communities and high streets.
‘We are delivering one of the biggest expansions of tagging in British history – backed by £100million in funding – which will target shoplifters among other offenders.’
