Shop lifting

Jnugent

Hi
I was issued a fixed penalty notice for shop lifting in m&m and banned from their stores. I accepted this despite knowing I did not take the good deliberately as it was my first time and the alternative was going to court hoping the judge would believe me. I had bought over a hundred pounds of good and my wife pushed the trolley out of the store and it was when we got to the car that the security guards approached and asked me to come into store for hiding item below a bag.

As I didn't push or touch the trolley at all containing the £10 of unpaid goods have I done anything wrong. Can I challenge the fine that m&m appear to send out after the event?

Jnugent

Should have read M&S not m&m

HappyMJ

Jnugent wrote: »

Hi
I was issued a fixed penalty notice for shop lifting in m&m and banned from their stores. I accepted this despite knowing I did not take the good deliberately as it was my first time and the alternative was going to court hoping the judge would believe me. I had bought over a hundred pounds of good and my wife pushed the trolley out of the store and it was when we got to the car that the security guards approached and asked me to come into store for hiding item below a bag.

As I didn't push or touch the trolley at all containing the £10 of unpaid goods have I done anything wrong. Can I challenge the fine that m&m appear to send out after the event?

Yes you can challenge the amount that M&S is recovering from you by not paying the amount requested and allowing M&S to take you to court. If you fail to pay M&S they will take you to the county court to get a CCJ against you.

ValHaller

HappyMJ wrote: »

Yes you can challenge the amount that M&S is recovering from you by not paying the amount requested and allowing M&S to take you to court. If you fail to pay M&S they will take you to the county court to get a CCJ against you.

Worth commenting that they may not get a CCJ, or then again they might manage it.

M&S cannot issue valid fixed penalty notices. They do not have the power to fine people or enforce fines.

Were the police involved?

Pollycat

Jnugent wrote: »

Hi
I was issued a fixed penalty notice for shop lifting in m&m and banned from their stores. I accepted this despite knowing I did not take the good deliberately as it was my first time and the alternative was going to court hoping the judge would believe me. I had bought over a hundred pounds of good and my wife pushed the trolley out of the store and it was when we got to the car that the security guards approached and asked me to come into store for hiding item below a bag.

As I didn't push or touch the trolley at all containing the £10 of unpaid goods have I done anything wrong. Can I challenge the fine that m&m appear to send out after the event?

Would you prefer that they issued the fixed penalty notice to the person pushing the trolley? Would that be your wife?

TBH, this whole things sounds pretty strange and the OP should come back with further information.
e.g. Were the Police involved? What was said back in the store by the Security guard/manager? Was the possibility of this fine mentioned?

Jnugent

Police were the ones who issued the fixed penalty notice. I have read articles that m&s operate a civil recovery system and it is this I am looking to see if I can challenge

ValHaller

How much are they seeking to recover?

System

Jnugent wrote: »

Police were the ones who issued the fixed penalty notice. I have read articles that m&s operate a civil recovery system and it is this I am looking to see if I can challenge

You shouldn't have accepted it at the time. Now you have it's going to be difficult to challenge it.

With these sort of things they increase in amount if you don't pay it within a certain amount of time.

You may just have to pay it and be more careful in future.

agrinnall

So who put the unpaid for items in the trolley, you or your wife? If it was you then they've got the right person and you just have to suck it up, if it was your wife then you have to decide whether you want the punishment to be transferred to her.

Pollycat

What did they (security guard/manager/police) say when you said it was a genuine mistake?

What was the item hidden below your bag?
Was it a small item?

Was it believable (by security guard/manager/police) that you could have overlooked putting it with the other stuff you did pay for by mistake?
For example, I have once not taken a magazine out of the trolley when unpacking but I did notice it in the trolley as I started packing the goods that had been scanned so put it on the pile of other goods to be scanned.

If it was (for example) a full length feather/down coat, you'd be hard pushed to say it was accidently left in the trolley.

How come you didn't pay for these items with the other stuff you did pay for?

bris

The police issued the fixed penalty notice, then if you don't pay they take you to court for it, just like a traffic offence.

This of course means that if convicted you are a known shoplifter, pay the fine, you got off lightly.