The Japan Times - Woman barred from every Greggs outlet after series of offences

She has been banned from all branches of the popular chain A serial shoplifter who stole more than £2,000 worth of goods has been barred from every branch of a popular bakery chain nationwide.

Tiffany O'Neill, 28, received a suspended sentence following a sustained series of thefts at Greggs dating back to May. Over that period, O'Neill was arrested, charged, and remanded to appear before the courts on 11 separate occasions, culminating in 69 theft offences.

She appeared for sentencing at Croydon Magistrates’ Court today (Wednesday, November 1), having pleaded guilty to a total of 80 offences and avoided being sent to prison. She was handed a 26 week sentence, suspended for 12 months. New constraints on magistrates and judges that came into force earlier this year require a sentence of less than a year to be suspended unless very specific exceptions apply.

The Met is highlighting this case to reiterate its continued calls for the criminal justice system to hold prolific offenders to account and prevent them from doing harm to London’s communities – whether that is by targeting businesses or individuals. It is estimated that officers have spent more than 120 hours on this single case since O’Neill’s arrest in May, including preparing case files, carrying out further arrests and attending court hearings.

At all but one court appearance in recent months she was granted bail, despite repeatedly breaching her bail conditions and returning to target the same Greggs store on Electric Avenue in Brixton. O’Neill was initially banned from entering the London Borough of Lambeth and required to wear a GPS tag as a condition of her bail. However, despite repeated offending whilst on bail, the GPS tag was never fitted.

Three sentencing hearings were previously adjourned because she failed to appear in court, and a fourth was delayed earlier this week due to tech issues at the court. Not only is this a waste of court time, it also puts extra demand on officers who had to find and arrest O’Neill, following the first three adjournments. In addition to the suspended sentence, a Criminal Behaviour Order was also granted banning her from Brixton town centre and all Greggs stores in the UK for two years.

Sergeant Chris Wilkinson, who led the investigation, said: "Our officers worked relentlessly over several months to build the evidence needed to bring this prolific offender before the courts."

"Despite multiple arrests and repeated offences, we remained focused on securing a positive outcome for our community. Her persistent offending caused repeated distress to staff, harmed the business and placed a significant demand on police resources." "We recognise that courts are obliged to follow the guidelines on suspending sentences, but it’s obviously a disappointment that someone who we know has reoffended so frequently is now back out in the community."

"We hope this marks a change in her offending, but if it doesn’t we will be there to intervene and put her back before the courts." Assistant Commissioner Matt Twist said:

"A small number of prolific offenders continue to be responsible for the majority of crime and harm in our communities. We are increasingly arresting the same people again and again when they ignored bail or license conditions, not complied with their electronic tags, or in many cases all of the above. The cumulative impact on retailers and their staff is enormous." "Our focus has to be on putting suspects before the courts. We need the CPS, courts, prisons and probation to work with us to break the cycle of continued release and re-offending. While we have made significant progress in tackling shoplifting, cases like this show why greater focus on prolific offenders remains essential and how police alone cannot fix this."

Roisin Currie CBE, Chief Executive of Greggs, said: "The safety and wellbeing of our colleagues and customers is always our priority, and persistent incidents of theft can have a real impact on those in our shops. We are grateful to the Metropolitan Police for their continued work with retailers, including Greggs, to tackle repeat offending."

"Retail crime is an industry-wide issue and we continue to strengthen our approach, including the rollout of Auror technology across all of our shops, investment in CCTV and trials of a new shop format in a small number of locations exposed to higher levels of anti-social behaviour. We also work closely with law enforcement and industry partners to share intelligence, helping us to better prevent and respond to these incidents and maintain safe, welcoming environments for our colleagues and customers." "We support efforts to apprehend repeat offenders, and we welcome calls for meaningful consequences for those who repeatedly target retailers. Importantly, we would like to see a renewed focus on positive interventions and services that prevent reoffending."

In June, the Met was joined by retailers in calling for criminal justice reforms to tackle prolific shoplifters and strengthen the enforcement of court orders on repeat offenders.

M.Yamazaki--JT