Small town sees crime ‘spike’ after man goes on shoplifting spree in one shop multiple times By John Fieldhouse and Georgia Burrows Police in a small town in England have put a spike in criminal activity […]

By John Fieldhouse and Georgia Burrows

Police in a small town in England have put a spike in criminal activity down to a one-man crime-spree whose activities helped reports of shoplifting offences to rise by more than 500 per cent.

The Lincolnshire town of Market Rasen has a population of just under 4,000, but new figures from the Police UK website show it’s crime figures for February were the highest in any month in the last three years.

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The town had a total of 74 crimes reported in February, a leap from the 42 crimes reported for the same month last year. The figures also included 21 shoplifting offences compared to four in the corresponding period last year – a rise of over 500 per cent.

Crimes in context

Lincolnshire Police Inspector Nigel Key said the increase in shoplifting was “primarily” down to a single offender who had targeted one particular retail outlet in the town.

The figures on the Police UK site also show an increase in anti-social behaviour, bicycle theft, criminal damage and arson, and violence and sexual offences, though police warned these offences should be taken “in context”.

“The violence offences recorded in February include a dog bite, an assault on a police officer, and an incident between two school children, so this needs to be taken in context,” Inspector Key said.

‘Extremely low crime figures’

Police also pointed out that not all crimes committed in the Rasen area have increased in the last 12 months.

For example, figures show that the number of robberies remained the same (zero), and the number of vehicle crimes decreased from three to two.

Insp Key said: “There are fairly large variations in monthly crime figures for Market Rasen, primarily because overall the area benefits from extremely low crime figures and a small increases in any particular area can make for huge percentage increases overall.

Three-fold spike

“In February 2018, Market Rasen had a spike in shoplifting offences reported to the police – almost three times the normal monthly figure. Had this not happened, the figures for January and February would have been almost identical in terms of overall crime.

“This [shoplifting] crime was in fact due primarily due to a single offender who had targeted one particular shop in Market Rasen so there was not a widespread problem across the town.

“Sexual offences in terms of numbers are extremely low, but increased confidence in reporting to police has seen an increase in overall reported crime, rather than an increase in actual crime committed.

“Generally speaking, Market Rasen enjoys very low crime figures, something which Lincolnshire Police in partnership with the community, is working very hard to maintain.

Neighbourhood watch

Market Rasen has a ‘Neighbourhood Watch’ group which was set up on Facebook to warn residents about potential crime in their area.

A spokesman for the group said: “During a meeting with police, they emphasised the need for members of the public to report all crimes.

“The public sometimes feel that a crime isn’t worth reporting but this is very much something that residents should do.

“The police need to be made aware of crimes and the more people that report crimes will reflect a truer crime figure in our town and villages.”

The original source of this story is our sister title Market Rasen Mail