Serial thieves hit with restraining orders

Serial burglaries are being hit with restraining orders in a bid to curb thefts in one city centre.

It is believed to be the first time a Welsh police force has used the technique as a way of preventing repeat offenders from entering shops.

North Wales Police’s Operation Blizzard, launched in Wrexham earlier this month, means restraining orders can be used to stop a person from entering a shop on the grounds that they could cause harm to retail staff in the cause of his previous behavior.

Wrexham business owner Aaron Purvor said he had seen “a massive drop in shoplifting and also a lot of anti-social and drunken behaviour”.

Police said two restraining orders had been issued since the operation began, and Superintendent Jon Bowcott said there had been 731 reports of shoplifting since April 1, compared with 817 during the same period last year.

Earlier this year, a survey by the British Retail Consortium put the annual cost of shoplifting at £1.8 billion, with more than 45,000 incidents a day, with 60% of retailers describing the police response as poor or very poor .

They can be applied to a named store or a chain of stores across the country.

While such orders are only sought for repeat offenders who are often responsible for a disproportionate number of shoplifting offences, Operation Blizzard goes further.

Shop owners Aaron Purvor and Mido Ringer, outside the entrance to their Pokemon Geckos merchandise story in Wrexham. — Aaron Purvor (left) with business partner Mido Ringer hailed Operation Blizzard as a way to reduce theft (BBC)

Mr Purvor, who runs Geckos, a Pokemon store, with his business partner Mido Ringer, said: “When we originally opened, (theft) was a problem.

“But we’ve managed to get it down over the last 12 months to maybe £1,000 or £1,100 worth of stolen goods.

“Op Blizzard has been good so far. We have seen a massive drop in shoplifting and also a lot of anti-social and drunken behaviour.”

Superintendent Jon Bowcott in Wrexham town centre. He wears a police hat and people can be seen walking down the street over his shoulder — Sup. Jon Bowcott said patrols are being carried out in conjunction with restraining orders issued (BBC)

Sup. Bowcott said, in addition to the restraining order, the operation involved “uniformed officers patrolling certain hotspots, areas that have suffered from retail theft – but also plainclothes officers trying to detect the crimes that the perpetrators they noticed”.

Police hope to apply lessons learned from Operation Blizzard to other areas.