CEP Senior Advisor Ian Acheson writes: "Shoplifting is not a victimless crime. Where it has become a normal feature of criminal impunity now rampant in many poor communities, it forces vital shops to close down. When the lights go out on neighbourhood convenience stores because small businesses are overwhelmed by theft, it’s yet another nail in the coffin for postcodes marooned in crime. The consequences of supposedly minor infractions are immense."