Leeds pharmacy forced to keep baby formula off shelves as gangs of thieves target shop 'every day' and 'laugh as they do it'

The Wells Pharmacy store at Beeston District Centre is noticeably sparse these days, as many shelves are being left empty and products kept behind the till to keep them away from thieves.

Charlotte Holliday, who has worked at the store for 15 years, said that she has simply become accustomed to the frequency of thefts.

“I just accept it as part of the day”, she told the Yorkshire Evening Post.

“We will tell them to get out but they don’t care.”

It comes as part of a campaign currently being run by the Yorkshire Evening Post and parent company National World called Silent Crime. As part of the campaign we’re focusing on every day crime that goes unreported to police.

Ms Holliday spoke with the YEP as part of the campaign and said that the thefts have become noticeably worse in recent years, both in terms of frequency and scale.

“Before it was petty theft but now it’s like a business for them”, she said. “They pinch stuff to sell it on.”

She said that there are “regulars” who target the store. Ms Holliday added: “They usually come in gangs and one of them will stand by the front door while the others just ransack the shelves.

“There’s one guy from Beeston who’s taken a bad turn with drugs and on some occasions he’s taken thousands.

“They will literally be laughing as they do it. They don’t care in the slightest.”

She said that among the items stolen were nicotine pouches, vitamins, expensive toothbrushes, denture fixing cream and baby formula, which she said the shop has now been forced to remove from the shelves.

Ms Holliday added that staff have been “pushed and shoved” while trying to intervene and that on one occasion two years ago the store manager was spat at.

“There’s some days where it will literally be happening all day”, she said. “They will tell each other ‘this is in stock’ and then we’ll get more coming in through the day.

“There was one lady taking pictures of things then she must have posted it saying ‘get this’.”

She said that the staff inform the police but “they don’t want to know about it”.

“They will do a statement and we’ll get a crime number and that will be the end of it”, she said. “If the value of the stuff isn’t over a certain amount then you can tell they don’t want to hear about it.”

She said she felt that more needed to be done to tackle the “appalling” frequency.

Ms Holliday said: “I get that police are busy with other crimes but this needs to be tackled. There needs to be tougher laws to make them more reluctant or more PCSOs.

“But again it’s something police don’t have the budget or resources for.”

Asked how her and other staff cope under such conditions she said: “It does upset you but we just have to get on with it.

“The company says not to approach them because they could have anything on them. They would rather claim the stock than let a member of staff get hurt.”

Ms Holliday added that shoplifting was a wider issue for Beeston and the city and said that at a another nearby pharmacy thieves had “literally pulled one of the shelves out and ran out with it”.

Asked what she thought was fuelling the levels of crime in Beeston and beyond, she said: “I think the system’s broken. People are getting into the wrong crowds and into drugs. Some of it’s how they’ve been brought up.”

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Assistant Chief Constable Damien Miller of West Yorkshire Police said: “West Yorkshire Police Partnership Business Crime Prevention Group is very much aware of the concerns of businesses regarding retail theft. This is a nationwide issue raised by business groups with police forces across much of the country.

“Neighbourhood Policing teams are involved in a variety of projects with businesses and Business Improvement District (BID) groups. Within each policing district, intelligence officers regularly review acquisitive crime offences to identify patterns of offending and put robust plans in place to address them.

“Within West Yorkshire, the force is working at both a force and district level to catch, convict and deter offenders, whilst engaging with retailers to ensure effective crime prevention and security measures are in place.

“When prolific offenders are identified and prosecuted, we also look to make use of other measures such as Criminal Behaviour Orders to control their offending and provide longer-term solutions.”