Forum Topic

Brazen shoplifting in High Road

At 4:15pm yesterday I was in the EE shop in the High Road (No. 276) when three villains attempted to rob the store of new Samsung mobile phones displayed to the left of the entrance inside the shop.There were ten of us - six customers, four staff - inside the shop. Fortunately, one of the staff (a young woman; her first day there) spotted this scout sent in on his own to check out the store. She quietly alereted the manager who promptly locked the entrance door after the scout left. About two minutes later three masked men wearing balaclavas and sun glasses tried to smash into the store. Luckily, the front door held firm.Us inside the shop stared out at the would-be thieves in mute amazement. They stood for a time on the other side of the High Road (outside Wyndhams the butcher) staring at us. Then we gave the shop assistant a round of applause for her quick thinking.The manager reported the incident to the police and two officers did arrive about half an hour later by which time, of course, there was no sign of the miscreants. No doubt one more useless and too-late report was filed somewhere. And all this took place within sight of the old closed Chiswick police station!Quite an afternoon!

Robin Knight ● 16d27 Comments

“ when in reality nothing is a substitute for a real, living, breathing human being.”Nonsense, the shoplifters couldn’t give a toss about staff. They rob with impunity in in front of staff and staff are encouraged to ignore them.

Steve Taylor ● 10d

'With illegal immigration spiralling it’s inevitable that crime will rise as crime gangs grow and Kahn won’t tackle the problem.' It's Khan.Anyone would think we didn't have crime or criminals before all this current hysteria about boats. It is - of course - absolute tripe. And with the advent of shops insisting on self-service tills which enables them to run a shop with minimum staff which also allows less scrutiny of what's going on. So, now we have one shop installing facial recognition to try and combat this problem, when in reality nothing is a substitute for a real, living, breathing human being. Ditto the police - relying on technology instead of people. All these things contribute to lack of communication and isolation and involvement in what's going on around us.             

Vanessa Smith ● 10d

“ Coward Khan Won't Debate Farage.Sadiq Khan has ran away from the suggestion of a televised debate with Nigel Farage on crime in London.The Labour Mayor of London turned down Mr Farage’s offer of a head-to-head showdown as it emerged that shoplifting in the capital had risen by more than half in the past year.Mr Farage told The Telegraph:“Labour have been in government for over a year. Sadiq Khan has nowhere to hide any more – the blame for his record in office lies solely at his feet. He has failed Londoners. London is lawless and London needs Reform.”The offer of a Farage-Khan debate comes after the Reform UK leader launched a “six-week offensive” of policy announcements with a particular focus on crime and punishment.Nigel Farage has stated that a Reform UK Government would aim to cut crime by 50% within their first parliament.Reform UK would stop the Labour policy of early release for violent criminals, and introduce a new prison building programme to deliver 30,000 new places, while hiring an additional 30,000 police officers.Foreign offenders will be sent back to their country of origin, and some of the most serious offenders would be forced to serve jailtime overseas, including El Salvador.Reform UK also vow to bring in regulations to stop “two-tier justice”, where criminals get different jail sentences depending on their backgrounds.Farage added that Britain should follow the “broken windows theory" that addressing smaller visible crimes (vandalism, littering, shoplifting, etc) has a knock-on effect on discouraging worse crimes.Stop and search would be increased to “saturation point” until knives are driven off of British streets.Keir Starmer and Labour have an appalling record.Nigel Farage and Reform UK intend to get very tough on crime indeed.”

Steve Taylor ● 10d

Irregular isn't a euphemism, it is more accurate usage. It is not a crime to land in this country on a dinghy if you claim asylum on arrival. It may be deemed that you have committed a crime if your claim is determined to be completely baseless but most arrivals are ultimately granted asylum so it is plain wrong to brand these people as criminals.Where immigration and crime is clearly linked is the labour market and the scale of the shadow economy in London is massive. People who do not have the right to work in this country are employed in construction, hospitality, delivery and personal services such as nail bars in large numbers.Before busting a blood vessel about this, the question you need to ask is what would be the economic consequences of eradicating this part of London's workforce which some estimates put at over 300,000. In pure financial terms, the deal for the UK economy is a net positive - although these workers pay no direct taxes, they are probably instrumental in the survival of a huge number of businesses that do. At the same time they have no recourse to public funds.If there was some magical way to deport them all at the same time (there isn't one in reality), there would be an immediate contraction in the economy, the tax take would fall, hospitality venues would close and construction activity would slow dramatically. This is probably why governments of whatever party have not taken the relatively straightforward steps needed to end these employment practices. If we all know the big employers of illegal labour, so do the authorities. However, I think there is a consensus that the growth of this part of our economy has gone too far.Talking to people with some detailed knowledge in this field, a Deliveroo rider or sub contracted builder in London is far more likely to be an overstaying student than a small boat arrival. The government has just yesterday announced a tightening up on student overstaying and asylum claims (a quarter of which come from India). At the same time it looks like they will finally be biting the bullet on ID cards which will make a huge difference in tackling this problem.

Mark Evans ● 10d

Philippa, don't kid yourself.Irregular is a terrible euphemism for illegal.

Denis I. Fox ● 12d

I think you mean irregular.

Philippa Bond ● 12d

It is slightly unsettling how rigidly you cling to a fallacy once you have made your own determination is true. While you can’t be bothered to do some minimal research yourself, you won’t believe anyone who contradicts you unless they have footnoted evidence with full source quotes. There is simply no available evidence to show that ‘illegal immigrants’ are playing any significant role in the phone theft epidemic we are currently experiencing.You are getting into full tin-foil hat mode when you start talking about them being behind organised crime gangs directing phone theft – I’m not sure what dark corner of the internet or your own fevered mind you dragged that one up from.There may be some gangs centred around ethnic groups such as the local one led by Redon Bushi that was broken up recently. They tend to be involved in higher yield crime and they would avoid using who were not supposed to be in the country and all of his foot soldiers appear to have at least had the right to remain. The senior figures in these gangs would not have an irregular immigration status because what would the point of making all that cash from crime if you couldn’t spend it on nice houses and cars?It might perhaps help you climb out of the rabbit hole you have found yourself to consider that not even the most extreme right-wing commentator on this issue would endorse your point of view.As for your claims about there being plenty of safe and legal routes for asylum seekers, you are once again making a pronouncement that demonstrates you know next to nothing about this subject. Around two thirds of asylum arrivals in this country over recent years have been from Ukraine and the bulk of the remainder are covered by the British National (Overseas) (Hong Kong) scheme. Aside from that there are people arriving under the family reunion scheme i.e. relatives of people who have been given asylum which the government has just today announced it will be making more restrictive. That leaves a tiny number of relocation schemes that have mainly benefited Afghans who worked with British forces but arrivals from this source have been drastically reduced in the last few years. It is a fact that unless you are from Hong Kong or Ukraine, you have almost no chance of getting asylum in this country other than by arriving by an irregular route.Let’s be clear here, overall immigration in this country was allowed to grow too quickly,  the asylum system is a mess and needs sorting out and there are too many people working illegally particularly in London. However, the propagation of dangerous falsehoods brings us further away from a solution and closer to masked hoodlums charging through Canary Wharf with their children and assaulting policemen.There is zero evidence of an ‘illegal immigrant’ crime wave but that doesn’t mean our safety isn’t been compromised by the organisations that employ people who are here without the right to work. It is noteworthy that no arrest appears to have been made in the recent death of a woman killed by a delivery rider in a collision in Hammersmith. A large proportion of people working gig economy jobs in London do not have the right to work. Others have made this point to you before and you have failed to grasp it, but the best way we as individuals can help tackle this problem is to not use services like Deliveroo that thrive on the back of the misery of people seeing safe haven in this country.

Jeremy Parkinson ● 12d

You won’t have a reduction of crime until illegal immigration is stopped and the illegals are deported.

Steve Taylor ● 13d

The absence of police on the streets run directly against what Air Mark Rowley promised when he became Met Police Chief in 2022. I actually wrote to Rowley then congratulating him on this commitment and suggesting that he revist the closure of the police station on the High Road. Never got a reply - of course. The only police I see these days are young female officers on horseback (!) who patrol along Chiswick Mall once a month or so - when the horses are not on holiday as an officer told me last week. The two officers who turned up in a BMW squad car after the EE incident would have been no match for the youths in a chase but might have alerted a helicopter overhead possibly. In any case, the jails are overflowing. Two years in the armed forces might be a better deterrent.

Robin Knight ● 13d

No, no Jeremy. You are trying to slimeball your way out of this one!  You specifically referred to: “arrest reports and court records of those that are apprehended show that this kind of crime is overwhelmingly committed by local youths who are commissioned to steal particular types of phone by organised crime gangs who have channels to sell them for parts or export abroad.”Now you seem to be saying that you haven’t seen a single arrest report or court record of any kind that ‘overwhelmingly’ states the crimes are committed by ‘local youths’.  You are merely making presumptions, presumably after reading some left wing press. Implying that you have read court records etc is therefore a lie isn’t it?  Ironically, you may be right that some ‘local youths’, presume you infer youths born in the UK, have been arrested for such crimes but do you have conclusive evidence that the ‘local youths’ aren’t commissioned by these ‘organised criminal gangs’  who are themselves illegals immigrants? “presumed you were the sort of person who equated asylum seekers with illegal immigrants. As there are virtually no safe routes into the country for those seeking asylum, people are forced to use irregular routes making them criminals from day one in the view of some.”Your presumption is wrong and unusually insulting for you as you usually debate intelligently and with some integrity! There are in fact safe routes for asylum seekers. The Gov.uk website provides full figures of asylum seekers arriving legally and not in small boats. On checking figures I find it quite astounding that 38% of asylum seekers arrive here on Student Visas with no intention of studying at all. These are devious and dishonest asylum seekers but they have nonetheless come here by ‘legal means’.  In my view they should be immediately deported and not processed for asylum.

Steve Taylor ● 14d

It would take you about three minutes searching on the internet to locate updates from the Met or news articles about phone theft convictions. This will give an understanding of the background of the offenders. When I did this one thing I was not able to find was a single case that involved an asylum seeker or illegal immigrant if you prefer. I presumed you were the sort of person who equated asylum seekers with illegal immigrants. As there are virtually no safe routes into the country for those seeking asylum, people are forced to use irregular routes making them criminals from day one in the view of some.

Jeremy Parkinson ● 14d

“ The arrest reports and court records of those that are apprehended show that this kind of crime is overwhelmingly committed by local youths who are commissioned to steal particular types of phone by organised crime gangs who have channels to sell them for parts or export abroad.”Can you provide links to these please?Also, I didn’t say the crimes were being committed by asylum seekers!  I mentioned illegal immigrants.

Steve Taylor ● 15d

No, Jeremy, I implied no such thing. I was merely suggesting that they might lose business if people got fed up of waiting outside the store. Your inference was wrong. Incidentally, I went back to the shop today, and was promptly admitted by an efficient and charming young lady.Otherwise, well done on calling out ST's wholly unjustified link between shoplifting and illegal immigration.

Robert Fish ● 15d

Robert, you didn't say that you were going to boycott the store but you implied you might because you felt you had been disrespected. I'm just reflecting it might have been a distressing time for the staff member and you could make some allowance.Steve, you have been desperately clinging to this notion that shoplifting and illegal immigration are some how related and repeating the claim over and over again despite a number of people on this forum demonstrating to you this is not the case. I'm concerned you appear to have forgotten those exchanges.There has been an explosion of phone theft in London over the last 18 months both of snatches on the street and raids on mobile phone shops. The arrest reports and court records of those that are apprehended show that this kind of crime is overwhelmingly committed by local youths who are commissioned to steal particular types of phone by organised crime gangs who have channels to sell them for parts or export abroad. I have been unable to find one case of someone seeking asylum being convicted of phone theft. Although the courts don't release the immigration status of defendants, I'm sure people of like mind with you on social media would enthusiastically highlight such a case.

Jeremy Parkinson ● 15d

Really, they are going to rummage around in a store room, the assistant see him eyeing up what he wanted.

Janice Evans ● 16d

With illegal immigration spiralling it’s inevitable that crime will rise as crime gangs grow and Kahn won’t tackle the problem.

Steve Taylor ● 16d

I think they usually go for phones in store rooms, rather than anything on display.

Robert Fish ● 16d

I think they have them connected for customers to try, they do in the Apple Store.

Janice Evans ● 16d

I assumed the phones on display were just dummies.What is the point of exposing valuable equipment to thieves?

Will Watson ● 16d

Mobiles should be displayed securely within the stores.

Janice Evans ● 16d

There was no Vodaphone / EE Takeover.  There was a Vodaphone / Three  MERGER.

Steve Taylor ● 16d

Who said anythng about boycotting their business?

Robert Fish ● 16d

Did u get a chance to see what the would-be robbers looked like, before they all balaclavred up?

Davy Jones ● 16d

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the staff were not wrong about the merger between Vodaphone and Three. https://www.which.co.uk/news/article/vodafone-three-merger-what-you-need-to-know-akikb9q10IRIThis probably meant that colleagues and maybe even friends were traumatised by being involved in a robbery. Perhaps they should have paid more attention to you, but you might consider their situation before considering boycotting their business.Unlike most shoplifting, which is generally carried out by people with addiction issues, the mobile phone shop raids are set up by organised crime gangs who have found a ready market for premium phone models. It is sad that EE, the one shop in Chiswick that didn't have a locked door policy, has now been hit and I suspect their customers too will have to wait to be let in, in the not too distant future.

Jeremy Parkinson ● 16d

Persistent shoplifting ranks high along the High road. I have witnessed it, so too my friends.Full marks to that shop assistant in the EE shop (they were raided a year ago) for her vigilance.When this government took over more than a year ago Yvette Cooper promised to put 13000 neighbourhood police on our roads.To date we are lucky to see the PCSO, little Cheryl from Hounslow mend her merry way along our HIgh road, maybe once a fortnight.

Denis I. Fox ● 16d

An unfortunate consequence of the EE raid - presumably on police instructions. Communications, as ever, key to situations like this. If the police demanded that all the mobile phone stores in the High Rd should be closed, then notices to that effect should be placed in the store windows so would-be customers such as Mr. Fish understand what is going on.Has anyone else been involved in such incidents on the High Road?

Robin Knight ● 16d

At 4pm I went to the Vodafone store to collect an order. There was one customer in the store, and apparently only one staff member. The door was locked, and I waited patiently outside. The staff member could see me there, but made no effort to break off for a minute and let me in. After 5 minutes I knocked on the door, he made some indeterminate gesture, and continued to talk to the customer for a further 5 minutes. I left, and returned at 5.30. There were now two staff members but no customer. The staff ignored me. When I knocked again, one of them told me they had to close the store early, because the 3 shop on the High Road had been raided, and the police were there. When I asked what this had to do with them, he told me that 3 now belongs to Vodafone (erroneous - the recent takeover was of EE, not 3) and that therefore they couldn't let me in. I wasn't best pleased. I can understand the locked door policy, but they will lose a lot of customers if they continue to treat people waiting outside with such disregard.

Robert Fish ● 16d