Hungry families are turning to shoplifting just to put a meal on the table, a police chief says.
People are stealing basic groceries such as meat and cheese, often because they are too ashamed to visit a food bank.Steve Finnigan, chief constable of Lancashire, claimed the number of shoplifting cases was continuing to rise.
He said: ‘The offenders are very often first-time offenders and when you talk to them, they are not doing this to sell stuff on. The stuff they talk about is food stuff. It is very often meat and cheese they steal and it is for themselves and their family.’
His concerns came as cases of food theft continue to pass through magistrates courts.
A 27-year-old woman from Blackburn was accused of stealing a tuna baguette worth £1.85, while a 60-year-old man from Accrington allegedly stole instant mash and cheese worth £4.
Ros Duerden, from Blackburn Food Bank, believes families who have fallen on tough times do not want to admit they need help. She said: ‘They do not want to come to a food bank and they will not necessarily ask for help. They would rather go shoplifting because they think they can do that in secret.’
Cllr Eileen Ansar, a volunteer at a food bank in Pendle, Lancashire added: ‘People are getting so desperate that they are turning to crime. You cannot blame them, all they want to do is feed their children. It is a sorry state and there is a crisis. The situation is turning us back to the 1950s and 1960s.’
Food banks across Britain are in demand. Most emergency handouts are needed in London and the south-east.
One charity that runs food banks, the Trussell Trust, helped nearly 350,000 people last year, compared with 26,000 in 2008.
Oxfam director Chris Johnes has blamed the rise on ‘a perfect storm of rising living costs, lack of secure jobs and benefit changes’.
Metro
