Shoplifting In West End
A BIG EPIDEMIC (Special N.Z.P.A. Correspondent) London, Jan. 11. Stores in the West End are’ experiencing their biggest epidemic of shiplifting. Women, it is stated, far outnumber men as offenders. A London Magistrate, Mr. E. R. Guest, estimates that the shoplifting bill amounts to £1,500 000 a year in London alone. He said he is convinced that people indulged in the crime “because in nine cases out of 10 they get away with it, and they think it’s worth it.” The senior detective of a London store, discussing the reasons why women steal, says “People don’t seem to appreciate the difference between right and wrong these days. Since the war women have spent a great deal of their time scrounging—there is no other word for it. If they have managed to get a little extra here or there more than their ration allows, they haven’t regarded it as wrong. The view invariably is ‘Everybody else does if why shouldn’t I?’ This i has led to a general lowering of morals.”
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Wanganui Chronicle, 19 January 1948, Page 6
Word Count
174Shoplifting In West End Wanganui Chronicle, 19 January 1948, Page 6
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