Lawless shoplifters rule roost in Southsea amid incidents of biting, violence and intimidation

Lawless shoplifters in Southsea have been spotted biting workers, walking out shops with full baskets of goods without paying and intimidating locals.

Now residents are calling for more action as shoplifting and anti-social behaviour spirals out of control in Albert Road.

“Blatant” thieves are ruling the roost with little comeback after being seen helping themselves to items before nonchalantly walking out of shops without any fear of consequences.

A boarded up window at Tesco Express serves as the most recent reminder of the plight engulfing the bustling hotspot. Police are investigating after a burglar smashed a window before helping himself to bottles of alcohol on Monday (June 22) around 1.30am.

Another alleged recent incident saw a woman who was caught stealing alcohol by a member of staff at the Co-op at 251 Albert Road challenged by a worker, before the thief told him: “You can’t do anything.”

The woman then left the shop with the stolen items before returning two minutes later and helping herself to more drink, feeling confident she would get away with it.

Such is the “brazen” regularity of shoplifting, a resident known as Jeannie, who did not want her surname published, has taken it upon herself to make a stand after witnessing several incidents where she has been left fearing for her own safety.

The local has caught thieves red-handed taking items - and has even photographed some. But despite her efforts she has been left frustrated at the lack of action.

After witnessing “another large-scale” theft from the Co-op around 7pm on June 2 Jeannie was left feeling especially vulnerable.

She said: “During the incident, I felt intimidated by those involved and was forced to leave the area and alter my usual route home in order to avoid further confrontation.

“After leaving the shop, the individual involved met with two accomplices who were waiting in the garden seating area outside the new Premier store on Albert Road. In my experience, this area has become a focal point for anti-social behaviour.

“I have personally felt intimidated on several occasions and now regularly cross the road to avoid walking past this location, particularly in the evenings.

“My concern is that these incidents are not isolated. Shoplifting and associated anti-social behaviour appear to be occurring regularly, creating a growing sense of insecurity among residents.

“Local people should be able to use shops and walk around their neighbourhood without fear of intimidation. There is also a wider impact on businesses and consumers, with theft contributing to increased costs that are ultimately borne by customers at a time when many households continue to face financial pressures.”

She added: “Is this the new normal? The shop shelves are cleared - food inflation is rising - people are in fear. Is the public message it's ok to walk into shops and thieve?

“The police, council, businesses and elected representatives must work together to address this issue before it becomes even more entrenched. Residents deserve to feel safe using local shops and walking through their neighbourhood without fear of intimidation.

“We should not accept persistent shoplifting and anti-social behaviour as the new normal. Law abiding people are in fear - turning a blind eye should not be the message.”

After reporting the matter to Hampshire police and sending in pictures of individuals who had just carried out shoplifting, Jeannie said she was left disappointed by the police response.

The police message read: “We have not been able to identify the suspect responsible for this crime and therefore our investigation is now complete.”

Jeannie said: “So as a citizen, this reinforces the idea that there are no consequences to shop theft.

“As this is a regular occurrence in our local shops, it is affecting quality of life, which has all sorts of knock-on effects.”

The News visited the area and, although did not witness any shoplifting or incidents of aggressive behaviour, received a unanimous verdict from locals on the predicament in the road.

Tina Dilks, 71, described the shoplifting at the Co-op as “dreadful and brazen”, with her recounting a recent incident she witnessed one morning. “There was a young woman trying to steal alcohol and a young man who worked there was trying to stop her. She told him, ‘there’s nothing you can do’ and left the shop,” the resident said.

“Two minutes later she came back in and was challenged again as she started helping herself to cider. She said to him, ‘you can’t stop me.’ It was completely and utterly brazen. I was told the woman had bit a member of staff on another occasion.”

She added: “It puts you off shopping and makes me feel sad. You don’t want to get involved in case they do something to you. We all stood by.

“I’ve seen a lot of fellas stealing too. There’s also a lot of shoplifting at other shops in Albert Road. I feel sorry for the staff.”

A shop worker in the area said stealing was “out of control” before adding: “You know how it is around here.”

Stuart Randall, a regular at the Co-op, said he sees “a lot” of shoplifting there. “They pick up stuff and run out and go round the corner,” he said. “It happens a lot, it’s a regular thing. I don’t know if it’s organised crime but it happens most days.

“Sometimes they have security in there but other times they don’t. They know when there’s no security. They’re opportunists. What can the staff do?

“I’ve seen thieves take full baskets, it’s crazy. It’s mainly women who work there and they’re told not to tackle them.”

He added: “It can be quite frightening when people are so blatantly going in and taking items. I don’t feel threatened but don’t want to get involved as you might get a smack.

“They are adults taking things who should know better. It’s a lot of normal people, not just homeless or people on drugs.”

Steve and Jennifer Redrup, both 70, said there are “no consequences to bad behaviour”. Jennifer added: “There is a lack of basic morals. Even if you have no money there are other means to get food, such as food banks. The problem is they want alcohol.”

Steve, who was a magistrate in Portsmouth around 20 years ago, said the situation was a dilemma when sentencing offenders. “When it’s single mums you can’t do a lot apart from fine them because you can’t send them to jail with a child,” he said.

“The fines often come out of their benefits which are capped so there’s not much deterrent. I feel for the staff. They are told not to target them.”

A Spokesperson for Co-op, said: “Local shops are an anchor in communities, and we continue to invest significantly in wide-ranging safety and security measures. This includes the latest CCTV, body-worn cameras, fortified kiosks and covert and non-covert guarding.

“This, along with forging successful partnerships with policing has contributed to a drop in retail crime levels at Co-op of more than 20% last year – a trend we see continuing into 2026.”

Safety and security measures used at Co-op, include body worn cameras – sending real time audio and visual footage to Co-op’s security operations centre at the touch of a button.

Covert and non-covert guarding – with covert guards specially trained to detain offenders are used, while stores have fortified kiosks and interactive and remote monitored CCTV.

Effective police partnerships also lead to sharing intelligence to target prolific and persistent offenders in communities.

A police spokesperson said: “We encourage businesses and members of the public to report all shoplifting incidents to us, and in order to demonstrate how reporting helps us prosecute offenders, we highlight that action is being taken by sharing court results on the Portsmouth Police Facebook page.”

PC Nigel Evans from the Portsmouth Central Team said: “As demonstrated by these offenders, shops are being targeted daily, often multiple times in the same day, by criminals who cause misery for businesses and their employees.

“Their behaviour not only causes financial loss for the businesses, but is also often accompanied by violence and abuse directed at those who work in the stores.

“We will continue to deal with shoplifters robustly and put them before the courts to face justice for their crimes.

“Please continue to report incidents of shoplifting to us, as this helps us build a stronger picture of prolific offenders and hot-spot areas for crime.”

Police said their most recent example of shoplifting court results was posted on Monday 22 June, and can be found here: www.facebook.com/share/p/1EdKUooGLq/