Shoplifting: Man jailed 10 times for shoplifting on why prison isn’t a solution

Watch Wales This Week's Shoplifting: Working on the Frontline on Thursday, 4 April, at 8.30pm on ITV 1 Cymru Wales. Catch up afterwards on ITVX.

Cullan Mais used to shoplift almost every day. 

The 31-year-old would often travel from his home in Cardiff to towns such as Abergavenny where he would then steal up to £4,000 worth of goods in a day.

“We’d park up on the one end of town and we’d hit the shops,” he told ITV Cymru Wales while visiting Abergavenny for the first time since kicking his habit.

“We’d take the stuff back, we’d drive back around to this side of town and do the same here. 

“There’s certain opticians up here, pharmacies, clothing shops, that were hit frequently. I would average anything from £2000 to £4000 in retail price.”

Cullan’s reason for doing this was simple, he was making enough money to feed his addiction to heroin.

He has since beaten this addiction, and without the need to buy drugs to feed his habit, he has also stopped shoplifting.

He said: “At the time I felt like it was a badge of honour, like I’m good at doing this. Looking back on it, it’s shameful.

“It doesn’t worry me anymore because I’ve paid my dues, anything that I’ve done I’ve been caught for, I’ve done my time for.”

While Cullan has recovered from his addiction, shoplifting figures in Wales continue to rise.

More than 21,000 cases of retail theft were recorded by police forces in Wales last year, an increase of 36% from the previous year, higher than any other country in the UK.

That increase is having an impact on both businesses and their employees.

Violence and intimidation are widely reported, and there are fears police are struggling to help tackle the problem.

As far as Cullan is concerned, punishment doesn’t work. Instead, preventing the causes of crimes such as shoplifting should be the priority.

“I’ve been to jail ten times for shoplifting,” he continued. “The penalties they have in place right now, it just aren’t working.

“People are getting caught for a couple of bottles from a shop, they’re going to jail for four weeks then they’re coming out and going straight back to the same shop and doing it again. 

“What I would say is we’re seeing a pattern of behaviour with people who shoplift and we need to do something else apart from sending these people to prison.

“I think it should be more of a health issue if it’s driven by addiction.”

Dr Frederick Cram is the director of the Centre for Crime, Law and Justice at Cardiff University. 

He studies an approach known as ‘Integrated Offender Management’, a form of rehabilitation of persistent offenders within the community. 

“Mainly people are shoplifting for drugs, and so that requires a response that tackles that need that that person has around substance misuse,” he told ITV Cymru Wales.

“Connecting them with the right services, gradually moving that person away from that lifestyle, rather than relying on short prison sentences which I don’t think work. 

“They often result in greater poverty, greater chaos, they don’t necessarily disrupt drug use, and they’re expensive.

“Really we need to think about what we can do more cheaply, more efficiently in the community, and that’s going to produce the outcomes that society wants, but also, and at the core of that, is going to really benefit the individual.”

Cullan now works for one of the charities that helped him turn his life around. 

“The majority of people that I engage with and speak to - they’re all good people stuck on their luck. 

“They don’t want to be shoplifters. And it’s just trying to give them the belief that they can change. 

“I’ve been accepted back into the community and given some sort of identity. 

“I’m trying to be that person who’s trying to show people you can turn your life around, you can be accepted in society, you can get a job, you can stop committing crimes.”

Policing and justice in Wales falls under the responsibility of the UK Government’s Home Office.

In October the National Police Chiefs’ Council launched its Retail Crime Action Plan. 

In a statement, the Home Office said: “Progress is being made through a police commitment to prioritise attending the scene of shoplifting instances involving violence against a shop worker, which is an aggravating factor and carries tougher sentences for offenders.” 

Watch Wales This Week's Shoplifting: Working on the Frontline on Thursday, 4 April, at 8.30pm on ITV 1 Cymru Wales. Catch up afterwards on ITVX.

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