One afternoon in April 2024, I was about to enter Lidl on Hayling Island to do a weekend shop when a man rushed out of the entrance with a huge carrier bag filled to the top with steaks.
I rushed after him as he was walking fast and ran in front of him, stopped and asked him to go back and pay for the meat; he said he had done so, but I didn't believe him as he had exited from the entrance door.
So I grabbed the carrier bag, which he immediately let go of it, and he ran off.
I assume he offered no resistance, as all he would now do is go to another store and repeat the attempted theft and expect to be successful next time. Why get involved with a potential assault charge?
The man was about 6’3”, and mid-thirties. I then returned the meat to Lidl, who checked the meat over and confirmed the value of the meat was about £200, and confirmed still saleable. While in the store, quite a few shoppers thanked me for my action and called me a hero; that really made me smile.
I don’t call this activity shoplifting, it is stealing, it is theft which unfortunately the Police ignore and do not respond to such incidents, so I did not inform the Police. I had earlier been around retail shops in Hayling Island and Havant Town Centre where brazen theft is rife, and where I was told the Police do nothing.
We need Hampshire Police to adopt a zero-tolerance approach to theft, since until then, large scale thieving from shops and supermarkets will continue as the thieves know there is no sanction when they get caught. Unfortunately our Hampshire Police and Crime Commissioner is ineffective.
My reaction was instantaneous in this incident, I was so angry that people believe they can openly go and steal other people's property.
Some further background on Lidl of Hayling Island.
When I was a Havant Borough Council councillor, I was on the Planning Committee and I spoke and voted in favour of the planning application for the Lidl store. The Havant Borough and Hayling island has some of the highest areas of economic deprivation in the country, and I believed that Hayling Island needed a supermarket with cheaper produce and products.
Prior to the planning application being considered, councillors and others were invited to sample some of Lidl products, and I must say I was impressed at the time with the food.
We now buy most of our food from Lidl on Haying Island and my wife and I always talk to the staff who are pleasant and helpful. So, I am glad that I was able to help.