Welsh police force issues statement on ‘scumbag’ shop sign claims

Emily Price

A Welsh police force has issued a statement following a media storm suggesting an officer had asked a shopkeeper to take down a sign describing shoplifters as “scumbags”.

Senior Conservative politician Robert Jenrick weighed in on the story when it broke earlier this week.

Sharing a screen grab of the headline, “Calling shoplifters ‘scumbags’ is offensive, warn police” to social media, Jenrick said: “Shoplifters ARE scumbags.

“The police need to go after each and every one of them.

“Make sure crime never pays.”

The post was viewed over a quarter of a million times on X.

‘Offensive’

Several news outlets covered the story of Wrexham vintage shop owner Rob Davies who had been forced to lock display cabinets in his store after losing almost £200 worth of stock due to shoplifting.

Mr Davies displayed signs around his shop informing customers,”Due to scum bags shoplifting, please ask for assistance to open the cabinets.”

The 61-year-old told reporters that despite support for his signage from locals, he had been asked by a police officer to take them down because they were “provocative and offensive”.

Mr Davies told BBC News: “The police officer was genuinely giving me a heads-up, no fault on him at all, that someone had pulled him in the street and were offended by the sign and that he should have a look at it

“He said he’d been asked to come in because it would be provocative and potentially offensive… but there isn’t anyone who could be offended by that, legitimately.”

Clarity

However, North Wales Police has since claimed that no such visit by a member of the force took place.

In a statement, the North Wales Police said: “Following widespread media coverage about a police officer visiting a Wrexham city shopkeeper who was displaying a sign in his shop referring to shoplifters as ‘scumbags’ we can confirm that having searched our records, we have not been able to locate a report of an officer attending the store.

“Media reports claim the shopkeeper was asked by a police officer to remove the sign, this is not the case.

“The shopkeeper has since clarified he was not asked by an officer to take the sign down.

“The shopkeeper states that the visit was prompted by a member of the public who had taken offence to the note and that the officer asked him to consider changing the wording of the sign.

“It does not appear any offences were committed, and it would be up to the shop owner to decide whether he displayed such a sign in his store.”

Visit

Wrexham City District Inspector Rhodri Ifans visited Mr Davies on Wednesday (12 August) to try to identify who attended and to ensure that any incidents of retail crime at his store are reported to officers at the earliest opportunity.

Inspector Ifans also invited the trader to work alongside officers through the city centre shoplifting forum, where local retail crime trends and issues are discussed with partners and business owners.

He said: “All incidents of retail crime should be reported to police at the earliest opportunity to enable us to effectively respond to any offences.

“We are committed to combatting retail theft in the city and all reports of shoplifting are taken extremely seriously. Each day, my officers go above and beyond to identify risk individuals and locations to prevent further incidents of shoplifting.

“A dedicated team of officers in Wrexham have consistently maintained the highest detection rate for shoplifting offences within the force over the past two years, which is a credit to their commitment to protect local retailers and pursue repeat offenders.

“Over the last 12 months alone, a total of 14 individuals who repeatedly committed shoplifting offences within the city have been subjected to a community behaviour order (CBO) through the courts, preventing them from entering the city centre.

“In addition to this, several civil restraining orders have also been issued to repeat offenders locally.

“Whilst robust action is taken against those who shoplift, we always look to take a proactive approach initially to signposting and supporting those struggling with alcohol or substance misuse to try and disrupt or negate repeat offending.

“Protecting staff, businesses and their customers from this type of criminality, which creates a significant impact on their wellbeing and business, is a priority in Wrexham city.”