Serial burglar first to be jailed following prosecution by private police force

A prolific burglar has become the first to be jailed in a prosecution by a private police force after the local constabulary failed to investigate.

The thief, who had 105 previous convictions including 33 burglaries, was arrested by two detectives from the private policing company after he broke into an M&S store to steal £500 of sirloin, T-bone steak and 20 bottles of Prosecco.

Even though he was caught in the act on CCTV and the M&S store manager called the police, the Metropolitan Police decided not to investigate.

The case was instead taken up by TM Eye, a private company founded by a former Scotland Yard detective chief inspector.

It provides uniformed “bobbies” and plain-clothes security staff to help retailers combat shoplifting and thefts in shopping precincts.

It has its own legal department which has already successfully prosecuted 280 shoplifters but the M&S case in Streatham Hill is the first ever where it has successfully mounted a prosecution against a burglar.

As a result, the burglar, David Hanson, 44, was jailed for a year for five offences including four burglaries on four different dates in October last year and one assault on the M&S store manager.

Even though the prosecution was mounted privately by TM Eye, its team of lawyers were treated the same as any state prosecutor.

The court was told Hanson was arrested by two detectives from My Local Bobby, part of the TM Eye operation which provides uniformed staff and plain-clothes detectives who patrol shopping areas for the local retailers.

Officers knew his ‘haunts’

Hanson broke into M&S through a reinforced glass window before making off with the meat and Prosecco.

The officers recognised him on the CCTV as a prolific shoplifter and knew his “haunts”.

They arrested him and secured his admission of the offence on their body-worn video which was submitted to the court.

David McKelvey, the former chief inspector who founded TM Eye, said: “He was wearing the same clothing as worn during the burglary.

“He was detained and immediately admitted the recent burglary and an earlier burglary at the same premises some days before which was also written off by police.

“The lesson is that every burglary deserves an investigation because there is always an opportunity to solve the case if you take the time to do the basics.”

Last October, police chiefs agreed to attend shoplifting incidents if there was violence against a store worker, a suspected thief was detained or officers were needed to secure evidence.

However, police say it is “not realistic” for officers to respond to every shoplifting incident.

Last June, the 43 police chiefs in England and Wales also pledged to attend all domestic burglaries.

Commercial premises as well as outbuildings, garages and sheds are, however, excluded from the pledge.

An investigation by The Telegraph in March found police failed to solve a single burglary in neighbourhoods across nearly half of England and Wales in the past three years.

National charging rates for burglary have fallen from one in 14 (6.7 per cent) in 2016 to fewer than one in 25 (3.9 per cent) in 2022.

TM Eye started by specialising in investigating and prosecuting counterfeit and fake goods rackets.

It says it has brought more than 500 successful prosecutions working with police forces internationally, the FBI and Federal Drugs Administration in five years.

It launched My Local Bobby two years ago to provide residents, local firms and shops with neighbourhood policing to combat thefts, criminal damage and other anti-social behaviour.

Its “bobbies”, who are uniformed with magenta vests and caps, provide cover 24/7 for up to 250 houses and businesses on each beat. It promises to have a response at the scene within five minutes, for a fee per customer.

The Met Police said it was working to establish what happened over the store burglary. It said it was working with retailers to identify “what matters to them, including the safety of shop based workers and shoplifting.”

On shoplifting, it said it was not realistic for the force to respond to every case but “where a crime is being committed, a suspect is on the scene, and the situation has or is likely to become heated or violent, our call handlers will assess this and seek to despatch officers where appropriate”.