‘I didn’t carry old ladies’ handbags’: Confessions of thieves who say jail is not the answer | UK news

The piercing blue eyes of Chris Downes look out from a Cheshire Police press release photograph.

“He has been causing trouble within this township through burglaries for over two decades,” it reads.

He is serving a criminal behavior order banning the 60-year-old from entering any part of his local center in Macclesfield and all Co-op stores in Cheshire.

“I feel like I’ve been punished twice,” says Chris, once for the original offense and again with the banning order. It causes inconvenience with things like doctor’s appointments and shopping for him and his elderly mother.

Chris is one of those people we rarely hear about in all the talk about the explosion of burglaries in Britain. He is one of that legion of thieves and agreed to speak to Sky News.

“Why did I do it? I did it because of a drug problem. I had no choice,” he says.

“I know it’s wrong, but it didn’t hurt any individual the way I see it. I wasn’t carrying old ladies’ handbags, I’m not saying shoplifting is right, but I have to assume.”

Addiction problems are a familiar feature of thieves’ stories. We spoke to a number who, almost word for word, said the same thing as Chris Downes. They want things to be different, they say, but they can’t break the cycle.

Chris describes the feeling of needing a stroke as “skinned alive” where even “your hair hurts”. Alleviating that need at once is worth paying any price, he says. “It’s an overwhelming drive.”

Another thing that all shoplifters seem to say is that they never target small, independent shops, but instead focus on the big high street names, as if their losses are somehow less significant.

But there are other stories. “You’d be surprised who steals,” says Chris. “Being a shoplifter you watch the people and the signs more than the security guards and while they’re focusing on me you’ll see an old lady with a trolley lined with aluminum foil and putting bottles of whiskey in it. I’ve seen it. a lot often”.

Read more:
Theft crimes reach the highest level in 20 years
Theft and fraud cost Co-op Group £40m in 6 months
Serial thief who made £500,000 jailed

Even shoplifters feel the pinch too. Chris says £100 worth of stolen goods would once be worth £50, now he says he’s lucky to make £20.

The responsibility of taking care of his mother has given Chris an impetus to clean up his act. His career as a cabinetmaker and potter are just some of what has become collateral damage to 40 years of addiction.

One man who has managed to break this cycle is Cullan Mais. As we walk down a suburban shopping street in Cardiff, he ticks off a list of what he might steal and from where during his lucrative thieving career. He explains in detail the modus operandi of the seasoned thief.

He shares photos of his trip: caught on security camera breaking into a store to steal, his mugshot, a chilling image of him doing a clap, this is chilling on a relative’s couch, his body without shirt marked with the scars of a fierce. fight against drugs

Bearded and looking healthier in smart sportswear, he now works to help others make the same journey out of addiction. He remembers it well, especially the amount of money he earned.

“Maximum I ever got: two or three thousand in one day. I stole millions,” he says. “When I was caught by the one shopping chain, they valued all the stuff I stole at £2.8 million, and that’s just the one shopping chain.

“Of course I never made millions, that was just the selling price.”

Addiction was the driving force again.

“Every day, without fail, you’ll make the money you need,” he says. “As a drug addict, you’re not going home until you’ve done what you need to do to make sure you’re okay.

“And, you know, I think as the years went by, I got more and more greedy.”

Although those days are long gone, he says, like any addict, the feeling never goes away.

“Stealing for me was an addiction in itself,” he says. “It was a buzz and I loved it. Even when I quit my addiction, it was really hard not to think about it.

“Last Christmas I was out working and the Christmas songs came on the radio and it triggered me because it reminded me that I was going out at Christmas to get money.”

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He says the answer is rehabilitation rather than prison. “Prison made me a better criminal.”

But for police and the courts, trying to deal with a problem that costs businesses millions each year, jail is often the only option.

Deputy Chief Constable Alex Goss, National Police Chiefs’ Council lead for theft, said: “We know that retail crime has a significant impact on victims, so we are committed to doing everything we can to reduce theft and pursue criminals, especially prolific and habitual criminals, who cause misery within the community”.