More than 200,000 shoplifting cases went unsolved in the past year in a “growing crime epidemic”, new analysis has revealed.
It means an average of 560 shoplifting cases are going unsolved every single day.
The staggering figures are the highest number of unsolved shoplifting cases recorded over the last five year period – and a shocking 32 per cent increase from the previous year.
The latest figures show that 205,676 shoplifting cases went unsolved in the year ending July 2023, making almost six in ten (57 per cent) of the total.
It brings the overall number of unsolved shoplifting cases since 2019 to a total of 843,406.
Only around one in seven (15 per cent) of shoplifting cases in the last year resulted in a suspect being charged or summonsed, down from 19 per cent in 2019.
The analysis by the Liberal Democrats is based on the Home Office’s own statistics, showing the number of shoplifting cases across England and Wales that were closed without a suspect being identified.
The Lib Dems blamed the government for the surge in numbers.
The party’s Home Affairs Spokesperson Alistair Carmichael said: “As unsolved shoplifting soars across the country, organised criminal gangs are being let off the hook while shopkeepers are left vulnerable.”
“Yet again, this Conservative government is totally failing to tackle a growing crime epidemic.”
“Far too many people no longer feel safe in their own communities and town centres because this government has decimated community policing.”
“We already know what works to stop crime – it’s not task forces and gimmicks, it’s putting police back on the beat and ensuring that crimes are properly investigated.”
“If the Conservative party was serious about stopping shoplifting, they would give up the gimmicks and invest in frontline policing instead.”
It comes as official figures revealed how thousands of shoplifters could be spared jail under the government’s new policy of avoiding short prison sentences.
Data revealed by ministers show shop thieves account for one in eight offenders who will receive a suspended sentence as part of the new rules for ending prison terms of less than 12 months to free up capacity in jails.
Labour said the data showed the policy was a “get out of jail free card” for shoplifters.
But the government insisted that sentences in the community are more likely to break the cycle of re-offending and that judges would still be able to jail shop thieves where there was a serious risk to an individual.
In 2021, there were 3,848 jail terms handed down to shop thieves, and 5,289 in 2022, out of a total of 40,215 sentences of 12 months or less, or more than one in eight that year.
Jail terms for common assault and battery came second, with 3,153 in 2021 and 3,071 in 2022, followed by assault of an emergency worker, with 3,050 and 2,233 sentences respectively.
Other offences that carry sentences of less than 12 months include breaches of a restraining order, carrying a knife in a public place and driving while disqualified.
The Ministry of Justice said 55 per cent of offenders previously given a custodial sentence of 12 months or less were convicted of further crimes.
The reoffending rate for those who were given suspended sentences with community service was by contrast just 24 per cent.
