I was perturbed to read that imprisonment for repeat shoplifting offences is now a Conservative policy (Shoplifters who commit repeat offences to face prison, 1 August).
As a retired consultant forensic psychiatrist, I spent many hours at police stations trying to compile a plan to meet the needs of women with multiple mental health and abuse issues who had finally exhausted the patience of the police and shopkeepers with their petty thieving, and been arrested.
The reason that I (and many of the police officers I encountered) tried so hard to divert such individuals to services rather than the courts was that the risk of self-harm and suicide rocketed in custody. Many women were at risk of losing their lives, and their children faced being returned to abusive partners or an indifferent care system if their mother was remanded even for a weekend.
Unfortunately, there isn’t an easy answer. I favour a “one‑stop shop” approach, where people in such need can immediately access a range of necessary services (housing, probation, refuge, benefits, mental health, childcare, abuse and drugs counselling at a minimum) . Shopkeepers should be protected against this type of theft, but the best way to do that is to reduce the levels of desperation that lead to this problem in the first place.
Prof Bob Peckitt
Norwich
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