Last month, a 48-year-old man was handed an 18-month suspended jail sentence for two years after striking a shop worker in the face with a can after being kicked out of a Waitrose in Buxton.
Derby Crown Court heard how on August 8 last year, James Hudson was asked to leave the store by a shop worker.
Hudson left, but as he did so he told him: “You better watch yourself when you leave work.”
The court heard that three days later he approached the victim, who was leaving work, and followed him while mouthing a “torrent of abuse”.
Hudson then stepped back and hit the victim “full force” with a “pint”-sized can of liquid in his hand, causing a cut to the frightened worker’s lower lip and chin.
He then made a call on his phone, saying into it: “I’ve got this lad that needs sorting out, I’ll give you £5,000 to come and shoot him.”
Hudson had seven previous convictions for 18 offences including battery, assault with actual bodily harm and criminal damage and was jailed for six years in 2013, the court heard.
Shoplifting at 20-year high
It comes after the Office for National Statistics published data in July that revealed the number of shoplifting offences recorded by police in England and Wales had risen to a new 20-year high.
A total of 443,995 offences were logged by forces in the year to March 2024, up 30 per cent on the 342,428 recorded in the previous 12 months.
The Government has vowed to tackle low-level shoplifting and make assaulting a shop worker a specific criminal offence.
Speaking at the Labour conference in September, Yvette Cooper, the Home Secretary, repeated the party’s pledge to crackdown on retail crime.
She said: “This Labour government will bring in new powers on antisocial behaviour, shoplifting and off-road bikes and put neighbourhood police back on the beat.
“After years of Co-op and Usdaw campaigning, this Labour government will introduce a new law on assaults on shop workers, because everyone has the right to work in freedom from fear.”
The new offence will carry a maximum sentence of six months.
Perpetrators could also receive an unlimited fine and be banned from the shop where they committed the offence.
Serial offenders could be forced to wear tags so their movements can be tracked and £50 million will be spent on facial recognition technology.
Dedicated facial recognition units will be used in high streets to catch perpetrators and prevent shoplifting. Police have been told to check more CCTV images against police databases.
In more serious cases, offenders found guilty of grievous bodily harm will face jail sentences.
But anyone convicted of the new offence would not routinely go to prison.
The Sentencing Bill, which is currently going through Parliament, would mean sentences of 12 months or less would be suspended and served in the community, although a prison sentence could be imposed in exceptional circumstances.