Six thieves who travelled all over the south of the country stealing more than £130,000 worth of goods have been caught by a determined Surrey PC.

Over two years the gang targeted shops as far apart as Suffolk, Somerset, Surrey, and Cornwall stealing everything from toilet roll to alcohol, nappies to cleaning products, selling them on at cut-down rates like their very own criminal supermarket chain.

But their plan unravelled after PC Ben Marshall in West Surrey was allocated a shoplifting case from Tesco in Guildford in November 2023, where the cocky thieves had brazenly filled seven trollies worth of goods before walking out without paying. 

Having found links to other similar cases across Surrey and Sussex, PC Marshall noted they often targeted Tesco stores and contacted their national security hub. With their help, and now with access to information from all their UK stores, he was able to gather evidence which exposed a sprawling web of offences spanning 13 different police force areas. 

PC Marshall’s hard work led him to the conviction of six thieves, who were all living in Essex, for conspiracy to commit shoplifting.

Individually, they are thought to have been responsible for the following amounts of stolen goods:

Tania Patmore – 231 trollies – £116,163.00

Jason Raven – 188 trollies – £94,539.20

Nicola Patmore – 152 trollies – £76,436.00

James Mytum – 143 trollies – £71,910.40

Samantha Drum – 116 trollies – £58,332.80

Marlie Patmore – 27 trollies – £13,576.80

Read more on our website: https://www.surrey.police.uk/news/surrey/news/2025/04---april/organised-crime-gang-who-shoplifted-130000-by-the-trolley-load-across-the-south-unravelled-by-surrey-police-constable/