Prolific Shoplifter found guilty

You said, we did.

Online, you as a resident, often get the beginning part of our story.

“Morden Safer Neighbourhood team arrest of a prolific shoplifter”

A great headline, you’ll agree, but then what happens? Today, I thought I would explain in detail a case we recently brought before court. To set the scene, here’s what happened.

              On the 9th of October, in the early hours of a dark night, CCTV picked up a break in of a local store, (pictured) by means of smashing through the front door. The then unknown male entered and stole £1500 of goods, before fleeing into the darkness. The store was then a crime scene and remained closed till 14:00hrs the next day, causing a considerable further loss to the store.

              Us, as the local team, picked up the case and an extensive investigation ensued. Running the entire operation, we identified a suspect who we started hunting down. It didn’t take long before we caught up with him and an arrest was made, where he was interviewed by us again. He denied it was him consistently through the questioning but fell afoul of the evidence and witnesses we’d gathered.

              At court, a guilty plea was entered and judgement handed down. Paul SMITH, 47 of Morden, received 20 months inside plus costs, a great result for the burglary / theft. But here’s where we upped the ante. We applied for, and got awarded a CBO, which in layman’s terms means “Criminal Behaviour Order”.

              Paul is now under order for the following.

              Criminal Behaviour Order made for 5 Years from 09/06/2026. Provisions: Requirements: To comply with the prohibitions detailed below. Prohibitions: The defendant must not:

For a period of 5 years until 23:59 on 03/06/2031.

              Violating any of the above will bring further charges instantly upon capture, and as you can see, that’s a lot of conditions for a suspect to adhere to, and we hope it sends a strong message that we will do our utmost to keep our stores safe.

              Shoplifting is a top priority in Merton Park, and our sister wards of St Helier and Ravensbury. Our wards cover the entirety of Morden Town Centre , and it’s been highlighted to us that residents see it as an importance for the team to focus on, so you said, we did.

We hope the above goes a long way to reducing shoplifting in the local area.