Metropolitan Police have accused retail managers of undermining shoplifting prosecutions by refusing to release surveillance footage, with investigators claiming lack of digital evidence hampers efforts tackling an epidemic that saw over 100,000 London offences recorded during the year to October 2025.
Chief Inspector Rav Pathania, the Met’s head of business crime, revealed approximately 80 per cent of shoplifting crimes investigated by officers never receive CCTV submissions from retailers despite formal requests for footage, body-worn video and witness statements.
“When we’re trying to solve more crimes, the way we solve them is by getting evidence. So it’s really difficult to investigate a crime where you don’t have the digital evidence,” Mr Pathania stated, noting the problem extends nationwide beyond London.
The revelation arrives as England and Wales grapple with surging retail theft, with Office for National Statistics figures documenting 519,381 offences during the year to September 2025—a five per cent increase—whilst Met data shows just 5.9 per cent of recorded shoplifting incidents culminated in charges during the year ending March 2025.
Mr Pathania emphasised that cases where retailers do provide footage yield dramatically improved results, with officers identifying 80 per cent of suspects through database searches and facial recognition technology matching images against previous offenders.
The police chief acknowledged the Met has prioritised violent crime reduction over “acquisitive” offences like shoplifting since the Covid pandemic, though he insisted detection rates have nearly doubled with shoplifter arrests increasing 44 per cent over the past year.
His comments echo February testimony from Met Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley, who told the Home Affairs Committee that retailers “don’t report anything” and “need to do better” when addressing thieves who “clear whole shelves” without payment.
“Some of them don’t report anything, if we go there they don’t give us the CCTV of the crime, they won’t give us any statements, they don’t give their staff time to give statements and they don’t pay their staff to go to court to give evidence,” Sir Mark stated.
The finger-pointing arrives following high-profile prosecutions including Daniel Cleveland, 33, jailed three years last October for stealing £16,000 of B&Q taps, with cameras capturing him throwing items over fences to accomplices.
Romanian national Bianca Mirica, 20, received 32 months last summer as part of a 16-person shoplifting gang prosecution after CCTV documented her £299,000 campaign including stripping Hornchurch Boots shelves.
Liam Hutchinson was jailed 12 months after footage showed him swiping entire Boots product shelves totalling £100,000.
