§ Mr. Adleyasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will reject the recommendations of Lord Justice James, which seek to deprive those convicted of shoplifting of the right to trial by jury if the sum involved is below £20.
§ Mr. Alexander W. LyonAs my right hon. Friend indicated in the reply he gave on 25th November to my hon. Friend the Member for Gateshead, West (Mr. Horam)—[Vol. 901, c.105–6]—he wishes to assess reactions to the report generally before reaching conclusions on particular recommendations.
§ Mr. Adleyasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will now introduce legislation to control the trading habits of supermarkets in regard to their methods of apprehending people whom they suspect of shoplifting.
§ Dr. SummerskillNo.
§ Mr. Adleyasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will now 238W take steps to categorise separately in the crime statistics the specific offences supermarket shoplifting.
§ Mr. Alexander W. LyonNo. As my hon. Friend the Under-Secretary of State has previously explained to the hon. Member, I do not consider that it would be justifiable to add this requirement to the burden on the police in collecting statistics about crime.
§ Mr. Adleyasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what current studies are taking place in his Department concerning the problem of shoplifting from food supermarkets.
§ Dr. SummerskillThe Home Office Research Unit is examining available information about shoplifting and is considering the possibility of undertaking or supporting further work in this field.
§ Mr. Adleyasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what percentage of pleas of not guilty on shoplifting charges resulted in acquittals for each of the last five years; and what was the percentage level of acquittals for other offences against property without violence for each of the last five years.
§ Mr. Alexander W. LyonOf cases tried at the Crown Court in 1974, the proportion pleading not guilty who were acquitted was 53 per cent. where the charge was shoplifting, and 63 per cent. where the charge was other theft. I regret that the rest of the information sought by the hon. Member is not readily available, except that I can tell him that in 1971 the proportion of cases pleading not guilty at Crown courts to a charge of shoplifting who were acquitted was 59 per cent.
§ Mr. Adleyasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent representations he has received from the police concerning the law as it relates to those accused of shoplifting from food supermarkets.
§ Dr. SummerskillNone.
§ Mr. Adleyasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what was the number of shoplifting cases brought before the courts in each of the last 10 years; what were the numbers for each year of those acquitted and convicted, respectively; and how many of those 239W acquitted and convicted were facing their first criminal charge.
PERSONS PROCEEDED AGAINST FOR SHOPLIFTING.BY RESULT (ENGLAND AND WALES) Persons proceeded against Magistrates' Courts The Crown Court Year Acquitted Found guilty Acquitted Found guilty 1965 … … … 31,497 1,035 29,947 74 150 1966 … … … 30,971 1,022 29,435 102 181 1967 … … … 32,857 1,293 30,978 94 193 1968 … … … 34,524 1,350 32,398 119 278 1969 … … … 40,181 1,574 37,527 201 357 1970 … … … 43,477 1,845 40,114 222 478 1971 … … … 47,589 2,094 43,592 319 659 1972 … … … 49,611 2,307 45,043 416 876 1973 … … … 48,446 2,319 44,373 525 929 1974 … … … 60,769 2,850 55,486 555 1,169 Information on how many of the above were facing their first criminal charge is not readily available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
§ Mr. Adleyasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps he has taken to ensure the voluntary implementation by supermarkets of the proposals to prevent shoplifting, which were recommended by his Department's internal Working Party's Report; and what steps he intends to take in the absence of voluntary implementation.
§ Dr. SummerskillI understand that many of the working party's recommendations are being implemented by those concerned.
§ Mr. Adleyasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he is satisfied with the methods used by security companies which sell their services to small supermarket operators for the purpose of apprehending those accused of shoplifting.
§ Mr. Adleyasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will seek powers designed to prevent organisations from adopting techniques which cause an increase in crime in an attempt to improve their trade.
§ Mr. Roy JenkinsI am not clear what techniques the hon. Gentleman has in mind, nor am I clear that it would be sensible or desirable to seek powers to
240W
§ Mr. Alexander W. LyonThe following is the information:
prevent traders from doing things which it can hardly be in their own interests to do.
§ Mr. Adleyasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department when officials of his Department visited the Carrefour hypermarket at Chandlers Ford, Hampshire, to inspect the bag park at which all shoppers are required to deposit shopping baskets and similar containers, before entering the shopping area; and what conclusions they drew from their visit.
§ Dr. SummerskillAn official visited the Carrefour hypermarket in October 1974 and reported that the few customers carrying shopping bags were required to deposit them in the bag park, but most of the shoppers did not have bags, and wheeled their purchases in trolleys to their cars in the large car park provided.
§ Mr. Adleyasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many of those accused of shoplifting from food supermarkets face charges involving sums in excess of £20.
§ Mr. Alexander W. LyonI regret that this information is not available.