Simon Jones: Daylight robbery

Optical practices have long been a target for shoplifters and over the years Optician has reported on far too many. Shop theft in the wider retail sector is on the rise and it won’t be long before practices are caught up with more brazen attempts at robbery, like this summer’s TikTok looting of shops on Oxford Street.

In the past six years, rates of shop theft have more than doubled, according to the British Retail Consortium. While the act can be one that reflects social necessity, it’s a far cry from light-fingered Dickensian rogues or Robin Hood heroes it once was, with criminal gangs exploiting depleted police forces.