Police warn businesses as shoplifters leave store with £1,101 worth of goods

Julie Kenwell • Published 5 Jan 2012 13:00 0 Comments

Share this

PSNI Sector Commander, Inspector Roy Robinson has warned retail stores in the Fermanagh area to be on the look out for a new shop lifting technique where culprits could potentially make off with thousands of pounds.

In one recent incident at Tesco in Enniskillen a female was able to leave the store with £1,101 worth of goods in the distraction theft.

Police received a report from the store on Saturday at around 4.30pm that a male and a female had approached the check out with two trolleys of goods.

Everything was put through the till and when the first trolley was filled, the female pushed it away.

But when the male attempted to pay for the goods with a card, it was refused.

He told the till operator he had another card in his car.

A security guard followed him around the carpark.

The male told him his vehicle was a white Mercedes with a black roof and a Galway registration plate.

When the car could not be found, the male made off in the direction of Belmore Court Hotel and the security guard lost sight of him.

Of the £1,316 worth of goods put through the till by the male and female, only £215 was recovered.

Police believe the male used the pretence of looking for his car in order to allow the female plenty of time to make off with her trolley,

The male is described as being aged around 24, with a medium build, brown hair with blonde highlights and was wearing blue jeans with a dark jacket at the time. He spoke with a strong southern accent.

According to Inspector Robinson, this diversionary tactic has been used in a number of multi-national stores.

"No one should be allowed to leave the store until they have paid for their items, under any circumstances," he advised.

This article appeared in Impartial Reporter 05 Jan 12

Return to the main index, get more from this section or browse our News archives.