A prolific shoplifter who stole more than £107,000 worth of products from Boots stores has been jailed for a year and banned from every branch of the pharmacy chain across Britain for the next decade.
Liam Hutchinson, 32, of no fixed address, committed 99 separate shoplifting offences between May and August 2025, targeting stores across the affluent London boroughs of Chelsea and Kensington in what police described as a sustained campaign of theft.
Westminster Magistrates’ Court heard how Hutchinson brazenly stole large quantities of electrical items and razors, often stuffing them into bags or concealing them in his jacket before fleeing. CCTV footage released by the Metropolitan Police shows the serial offender grabbing multiple products from shelves, with one clip capturing a shop worker attempting to stop him before he dashed away.
The 32-year-old has been sentenced to 12 months’ imprisonment and issued with a Criminal Behaviour Order that bans him from entering any Boots store in the UK for 10 years. He is also prohibited from setting foot in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea for the next five years.
Sergeant Jack Vine, who led the investigation for the Met’s Volume Crime Team in central London, said Hutchinson’s relentless targeting of Boots stores had cost the business £107,000 in lost revenue over just three months.
“We recognised the impact Hutchinson’s actions were having on the retailer, and through working with staff, we built a strong case of evidence against him, which has been reflected in his sentencing,” Sergeant Vine said.
The detective revealed that officers had trawled through hundreds of hours of CCTV footage and interviewed numerous witnesses and Boots staff members to build their case against the serial offender.
“This result should act as a warning that this type of behaviour will not be tolerated, and that we will come down hard on those who show a complete disregard for the law, terrorise retail workers and cost businesses thousands of pounds,” Sergeant Vine added.
Chief Inspector Rav Pathania, the Met’s lead for tackling retail crime, said the force was “coming down hard on shoplifters” by deploying more officers in local teams, increasing patrols and conducting intelligence-led operations targeting the most prolific offenders.
“Shoplifting is an injustice in our communities and causes fear and loss to retail workers and businesses, and we are more determined than ever to ensure we are gathering more evidence of multiple offences in order to get more convictions and stronger sentences for those responsible,” he said.
The successful prosecution comes as the Met reports it has solved 163% more shoplifting cases across the capital compared to the same period last year, part of an enhanced focus on neighbourhood policing and retail crime.
Nicky Harrop, Head of Security, Fraud and Contract Management at Boots, welcomed the collaboration with police, saying the company had 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.
“Tackling the growing levels of retail crime is a collaborative effort, so we’re pleased to work alongside the Metropolitan Police to ensure our stores remain a safe and respectful environment for our team members and customers,” Harrop said.
The case highlights the escalating crisis of retail crime across Britain, with shoplifting reaching its highest levels since current recording practices began in 2003. According to the Office for National Statistics, there were 516,971 recorded shoplifting offences in England and Wales for the year ending December 2024, a 20% increase year-on-year.
In London specifically, the problem is particularly acute. Almost 90,000 shoplifting offences were recorded in the capital in 2024, up 54% from roughly 58,000 the previous year. This compares to a 15% increase in shoplifting across the rest of England outside London.
The British Retail Consortium’s 2024 Crime Report revealed retailers are experiencing more than 600 incidents of theft per hour, with total losses from customer theft reaching £1.8 billion annually. The crisis has forced retailers to spend an additional £1.2 billion on crime prevention measures, creating what the industry describes as a “10p crime tax” on every transaction.
Violence against retail workers has also soared, with around 76,000 incidents reported over the past year, compared to 41,000 in 2023. The Association of Convenience Stores found that 87% of shop workers have faced verbal abuse, with drug or alcohol addiction and organised crime cited as the top motivations for repeat offending.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan’s office responded to criticism over rising shoplifting rates, with a spokesman saying the mayor is “determined to do all he can to tackle crime and its complex causes.”
The mayor had previously attracted controversy by attributing London’s higher shoplifting rates to the fact that the city has “a lot of shops” compared to other areas. However, critics point out that theft from a person has also increased by 41% in London whilst decreasing by 14% in the rest of England, with Greater Manchester seeing a 28% reduction.
A spokesman for the mayor said: “Sadiq is determined to do all he can to tackle crime and its complex causes and build on progress that has been achieved in London, with the number of young people being injured with a knife, homicides, gun crime with lethal barrel discharges and burglary all down since 2016.”
The government has responded to the retail crime crisis with new legislation. The Crime and Policing Bill 2025 will create a standalone offence for assaulting a retail worker, with a maximum penalty of six months in prison and an unlimited fine. It will also repeal provisions that previously treated shop theft under £200 as “low-value,” ensuring all shoplifting is treated with appropriate seriousness.
As part of the government’s response, the Met is expanding its dedicated West End team with up to 80 additional officers to tackle anti-social behaviour, violence against women and girls, shoplifting and phone robbery. Six town centre teams will also be expanded or newly created with 90 additional officers in areas with the highest volumes of theft, including Brixton, Kingston, Ealing, Finsbury Park, Southwark, and Spitalfields.
The Hutchinson case represents a significant victory in the fight against prolific shoplifters, but with retail crime continuing to rise and only 18.5% of shoplifting offences resulting in charges, the challenge facing police and retailers remains substantial.
Industry leaders hope that high-profile prosecutions like this one, combined with enhanced penalties and increased police resources, will begin to turn the tide on what has become a £4.2 billion annual problem for British retailers when security costs and insurance are factored in.
For now, Hutchinson’s decade-long ban from Boots stores across the nation serves as a stark warning to other would-be shoplifters that the days of retail crime being treated as a low priority may finally be coming to an end.
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