‘That’s the highest praise we can get, from someone like that’Officers on patrol in Stockport town centre

A criminal told police he was avoiding a town centre as it was ‘flaming’ with officers. Force chiefs in Stockport say it is a ringing endorsement of their ongoing drive against shoplifting and anti-social behaviour.

The repeat offender, who has committed numerous offences in the town centre, was detained at a separate location in November last year.

When asked why he was there he said the town centre was ‘flaming’ which Greater Manchester Police (GMP) said ‘means the police are all over the place and it’s too hot down on the town.’

“He was prolific offender in the town centre and we caught him outside of the town centre” Sergeant James Senior, from the force’s Stockport Central Neighbourhood Policing Team, told the Manchester Evening News.

“When we had that conversation with him and asked ‘where have you been?’, he said ‘well I won’t come to the town centre anymore because you’re everywhere.’

(left-to-right) Inspector Jason Holmwood, Chi Insp Clare Ryle and Sgt James Senior from the Stockport Central Neighbourhood Policing team

“That’s the highest praise we can get, from someone like that.”

Sgt Senior was speaking after a briefing given to officers last week before they again flooded the streets of the town centre.

It was the latest day of action as part of Operation Rimini – the force’s crackdown on crime, specifically shoplifting and anti-social behaviour, in the town centre.

GMP now has a hub at an undisclosed location within the town centre. And Sgt Senior said that was helping them respond more quickly to incidents. “We’re more centralised now” he said. “We’re closer to our two security teams.

“Because we’re so close to them now, they can knock on the door. We’re more visible to them, they know where we are, and they can come to us straight away. It just works.”

Mounted officers on patrol during the latest Operation Rimini day of action

“It literally takes two minutes for officers to get anywhere in the centre of Stockport” added Chief Inspector Clare Ryle.

The force said it is also using the Storenet radio communication system, which most stores have signed up to, to communicate with security teams in real time.

Figures show arrests for shoplifting in Stockport in the last year are up from 187 to 280 in Stockport.

While the number of charges has increased from 162 to 227, 45pc.

Reports of anti-social behaviour are down 6.1pc in Stockport over the last 12 months.

During last week’s day of action, officers made three arrests for assault, criminal damage and a man wanted on recall to prison. A suspected stolen car was also seized. That takes the total number of arrests as a direct result of Rimini since June 2023 to 77 with 179 charges.

“Although the figures look like there’s an increase in shoplifting in the town centre, we haven’t seen an increase per se.

Officers are now permanently based in Stockport’s retail hub

“It’s actually giving the retail community the confidence to report them, because we’re taking proactive and positive action” said Ch Insp Ryle.

“So that’s why we’ve seen the increase in the number of arrests. It’s not there are more shoplifters coming to Stockport, and they aren’t targetting Stockport any differently than they target everywhere else.

“The message we want to get out is, if you come to Stockport and commit shoplifting or other criminal offences, we have got a really strong and embedded neighbourhood policing team based here who clearly know all the people causing financial loss and anti-social behaviour.”

“I think the courts are taking it more as an organised crime group type of thing now, they’re taking it more seriously” added Sgt Senior. “Because its a national issue, its not bespoke to Stockport.

“Operations like this help. But the business as usual from our point of view is that we do this every day, we just don’t do it on such a grand scale.”

Local beat officer PC Will Leadbetter-Smith

“I think in the past, there was probably the thought, ‘oh well, its just shoplifting.’ Well no, it’s a theft, isn’t it? It’s serious. And it can be a gateway to other crime. The message is, in Stockport, you will be arrested for it.”

Ch Insp Ryle said that shoplifting wasn’t a victimless crime, that it ‘affects all of us’ and ‘ultimately it’s going to put the prices of things up if we don’t deal with it.’

One way the force has been dealing with it is through Criminal Behaviour Orders (CBOs).

Introduced in 2014, they replaced Anti-Social Behaviour Orders (ASBOs) as the primary tool aimed specifically at tackling anti-social behaviour.

They are given to people who have been convicted of an offence with the aim to prevent them engaging in further criminal behaviour.

They impose restrictions such as prohibiting them entering a specific area, such as a town centre, specific shops, brands and chains, or other types of public venues such as bus and train stations.

Whilst they are a civil order, breaching one is a criminal offence, and may result in arrest, charges, and punishments including imprisonment, fines, or unpaid work.

A total of 12 people are currently subject to them in Stockport, six of which have come about directly from work as Operation Rimini.

They are:

Kelsey Atwell

Prolific shoplifter Atwell, 20, is banned from 16 separate store chains.

She is not allowed to enter any branch of Asda, The Range, Pets at Home, Best One, One Below, Boots, B&M, The Co-op, JD Sports, Matalan, Game, Aldi. Hobbycraft, The Works, Ann Summers or Home Bargains.

She is also prohibited from entering The Green Lane Convenience Store.

The order expires in April 2027.

Mark Swindells

Swindells, 54, is not allowed to enter any branch of of Co-op, Greggs, or Tesco within Greater Manchester.

The order expires in March 2027

Darren Sweeney

Sweeney, 55, cannot enter any Greater Manchester Co-op as part of his order, which runs until October 2027.

Rachael Culverwell

Culverwell, 35, cannot enter any Co-op, One Stop or Poundland in Greater Manchester until September next year.

Martin Smith

Smith, 42, a ‘prolific theft offender’, is not allowed the Merseyway Shopping Centre other than to attend agreed appointments.

Stephen Ridgway

Ridgway, 45, cannot enter any Co-op in Greater Manchester

Sgt Senior says Criminal Behaviour Orders (CBOs) “are a very powerful tool we can use and really, really, effective” .

He said prolific offenders would often target certain stores or certain brands due to ‘vulnerability, location, the way a shop is set up.’

“If you feel safe committing crime in a place, you are going to go to that place” he said

“Some people say it just moves on the problem. But a CBO is a live document. We can add to them if its proportionate for the courts to do so.

“Some of the people there are orders against can’t go into any Co-op in Greater Manchester without being arrested. That’s quite an impactful thing.

“We’re just not seeing people who have them coming back and committing offences in Stockport town centre.”

PC Will Leadbetter-Smith, from the Stockport Neighbourhood Policing Team and who is based permanently in the town centre said: “When we spoke to an expert on the matter, from the CPS, he said they are pretty much designed to deal with shoplifters.

“They either work in that people won’t commit further offences, or they work in that if they do, or breach the order, they get arrested and sent to prison. The punishment for breaching the order can be higher than for the theft itself.

“A theft on its own might land you two weeks in prison. But breach of a CBO, we had one individual sentenced to about two years. So it increases the sentence if they do breach it. So you win either way.”