By Adam Morris
For nearly three decades, Maxine Fraser has compiled lists of violent attacks by shoplifters on Scotland’s retail staff.
The dossier for 2024, which she describes as “the worst ever”, makes for particularly alarming reading.
A staff member hospitalised with a fractured eye-socket, a security guard struck over the head with a stolen bottle of alcohol, and groups of youths firing air rifles at shoppers are all included among the data.
The 12-page document details numerous incidents of spitting, punching, biting and serious intimidation – including death threats – all of which have occurred in the past 12 months.
For the year, 1,674 incidents of violence have been recorded in her fastidious system.
“I’ve been doing this 27 years – it’s the worst I’ve seen it in all that time,” she says, referring to her work with Retailers Against Crime (RAC), a UK-wide organisation which now has 1,000 signed-up businesses in Scotland.
“There are more young people involved now than ever, and the violence involved is getting out of hand.
“The police are doing all they can but, ultimately, these criminals just don’t fear the consequences anymore – the justice system isn’t dealing with them, so they just come back for more.”
RAC, which has a Scottish office based in Stirling, has a list of more than 10,000 people, shared with shops across the country, featuring known thieves and troublemakers.
It enables security teams and managers to be on alert when someone from the list is spotted, though many operate across the country, happily switching location when they feel their identity has been rumbled.
“There are more young people involved now than ever, and the violence involved is getting out of hand”
Even though they drop off the list if they have not been detected for 18 months due to data protection regulations, some are so prolific they have kept up appearances since 2002.
“In some cases it’s a family thing,” Fraser adds. “One individual was on there, and then they had kids and after a while they made it onto the list. And now their kids’ kids are on there – how do you break that cycle?”
The compilation of violent incidents also sets out the diversity of those involved.
Customers routinely get caught up in the disruption – in one case being covered in soup when an aggressive thief reacted badly to being apprehended.
A staff member had their leg broken after being attacked with a trolley, gangs of youths filmed a vicious assault on a security guard, and one woman broke her own bail conditions by attending a shopping centre to rip a body-worn camera from a guard.
In one case, a disabled woman who had stolen a box of chocolates leapt from her wheelchair and attacked a customer who had reported her crime to staff.
“I’m really worried that something more serious is going to happen to a retail worker – that’s the pace things are escalating, and the criminals just don’t care,” Fraser says.
And her concerns run deeper than public safety.
“There’s an economic impact too. A while ago there was a high street chain which happily just endured the losses at one store from shoplifting because other stores made enough to cover it.
“Then it got too much so they just closed it. Everyone lost their jobs, and that particular street lost a good outlet – the impact goes really far economically.”
Financial data gathered from RAC’s database backs up the assertion that matters are intensifying.
Losses incurred by shoplifting by the organisation’s members alone north of the border rose by a quarter by the end of 2024 to £1.5 million.
Last month, a report by the Scottish Retail Consortium suggested all losses to shoplifting were in excess of £170 million, while workers were also reporting an increase in attacks.
RAC has shared CCTV images and a video of a recent theft in Scotland, published below.
One Glasgow-based security worker, speaking to 1919 on condition of anonymity, said: “I’m more worried than I’ve ever been in 20 years doing this job.
“Worried for other security guards in the city, and worried for the shop workers – they’re worried too, I can see it in their faces.
“There’s no deterrence, especially for young people – they know the chances are nothing is going to happen to them.
“I’m in court three or four times a month and can see that for myself. The police are great, but they can only act when it’s there in front of them, the rest of the justice system lets them down too.”
Security workers themselves are at greatest risk of assault.
Numerous incidents from 2024 involved guards being threatened by drug addicts with used needles or criminals brandishing knives.
Some perpetrators return hours after being detected to attack the staff they deem responsible for their arrest.
One even donned a balaclava and attempted to slash a security guard before fleeing when police arrived.
And in further incidents, one was sprayed in the face with chemicals, while another was hospitalised after a thief released his vicious dogs and encouraged them to attack.
The report also features a case of a man striking out at workers after being caught stealing baby clothes.
The challenge facing authorities is enormous, with many young people dispatched by serious organised gangs, some of whom are based across Europe.
They travel from cities to smaller towns and villages, using free bus passes and train services, often fleeing the scene with thousands of pounds worth of goods before police arrive.
“Any increase in these types of incidents, including where children are involved, is concerning”
Fraser says: “We’re told they’re vulnerable, but they seem completely feral.”
Scottish Conservative MSP and community safety spokeswoman Sharon Dowey was a senior manager with supermarket Morrisons before moving into politics.
She has worked with RAC in both roles and believes the situation for staff has worsened.
“Nowadays they are definitely more brazen. If you caught kids shoplifting in the past they would at least look embarrassed and put the stuff they’d stolen down when you told them.
“Now they shout abuse, threaten the staff or just run out the fire exits with stock.
“RAC does great work identifying them, but ultimately nothing happens to them.”
The Scottish Government argues that the sentencing of criminals is down to individual courts, and will make £3 million available in the upcoming budget to tackle retail crime.
In a statement issued to 1919, Justice Secretary Angela Constance said: “Retail crime causes significant disruption and harm, especially for shop workers, and any increase in these types of incidents, including where children are involved, is concerning.
“I condemn any violence against retail workers and would always encourage retailers to report all crimes to Police Scotland.”