REPEAT OFFENDERS who shoplift for a living should face longer custodial sentences and heavier fines, the head of an Ibec-affiliated lobby group that represents the retail sector has said.
With retail groups predicting that at least half of all outlets across the State will be targeted by shoplifters over the Christmas and new year shopping period, Retail Ireland director Torlach Denihan blamed “deficiencies” in the criminal justice system for not giving criminals “an incentive to change their ways”.
Calling for a more punitive approach to retail crime, Mr Denihan said the possibility of repeat offenders having to pay heavy fines or having their social welfare cut at source – if it could be proven they derived an income from theft – should be examined.
“When it comes to dealing with people who are habitual criminals with a very long rap sheet, they just don’t punish these people enough,” Mr Denihan said.
He said opportunistic theft carried out by people who committed crime due to economic circumstances could be differentiated from those carried out by shoplifters who were well known to retailers and gardaí as repeat career criminals.
“If there is somebody there who is down on their luck and they’re trying to pay their mortgage and they give in to a moment of weakness, while not condoning the crime I would respect the fact the judiciary need the leeway to make decisions in cases like that,” Mr Denihan said. Repeat criminality was “a totally different situation” and needed to be addressed.
