A teenage boy has escaped custody after being sentenced for a £116,000 shoplifting campaign linked to a suspected organised crime gang. The youngster was just 15 when he began brazenly grabbing expensive products during planned raids on branches of Boots and Holland and Barrett, magistrates at Highbury Corner Youth Court in north London heard.
He earlier pleaded guilty to 15 counts of theft – including 11 where he took goods valued at £59,280.07 from Boots. A further 45 offences were taken into consideration by the court. A source said the boy was suspected of being part of a shoplifting gang responsible for many more thefts and at least one further suspect has been identified. Among the high value items the gang targeted were beauty creams.
Flanked by his mother, the boy, now 17, apologised to the court on Thursday as he was handed a one year referral order that requires first time offenders to attend a youth offending panel. He was also banned from all branches of Boots and Holland and Barrett for the same period.
Chair of the bench Alexia Fetherstonhaugh told him: "I've been a magistrate for many years and I've never seen this scale [of shoplifting]. This is very serious, it is very important that you understand that." Ms Fetherstonhaugh added: "Each of your offences were high-value, at least several hundred pounds, and you targeted the same stores. You knew what you were going for and you planned what you were doing. You did it as a group, that makes it more serious in our eyes. There is £116,000 worth of goods out there somewhere. The stores have not got any of their money back. People like me, you, your mum, everyone in this room, are going to have to pay for those things."
The boy was also ordered to pay £400 in compensation to Boots and a further £100 to Holland and Barrett. After sentencing the youth, who turns 18 later this year, Ms Fetherstonhaugh warned him: “Things shift dramatically when you go to adult court. Seize this opportunity (for rehabilitation). This is your chance to do that.”
He targeted Boots stores across London in Westminster, Lambeth, Camden and Kensington and Chelsea – along with Holland and Barrett stores in Hammersmith and Fulham and Camden. His guilty pleas included his highest value theft, where he stole £9,316.05 worth of goods from a Boots in Kensington and Chelsea on October 2, 2024. He was identified through CCTV stealing items in the company of another youth. Police continue to investigate the thefts, the court heard.
The boy told the court: "I'm very sorry for my decisions. I'm working with my grandad now and I'm trying to get an apprenticeship." He added: 'I'm going to make sure I never do it again and put other people in stress.' His mother told magistrates that she was also very sorry, saying: "We are trying to get him on the right road."
Lily Malone, for the defence, said her client had cut himself off from the individuals he had carried out the raids with. She told the court: "He is a young person who has had quite a difficult upbringing being subject to discrimination as a traveller and living in quite a crowded household. It led him to seek support from a peer group which he now recognises was quite harmful." The boy had continued shoplifting despite receiving a caution by police last January, the court heard.
A Boots spokesperson said: "We have been investing significantly in measures that will deter and disrupt criminal activity, stop theft, protect our team members, and support the police with high-quality evidence, so that our stores remain a safe and respectful environment for team members and customers." Measures include the roll out of body cameras for team members and a new, state-of-the-art CCTV monitoring centre. Any form of abuse towards our hardworking team members, who go to work every day to help people, is completely unacceptable.
