I've made 50 citizen's arrests to tackle crime "epidemic" that's damaging fabric of my community

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Video shows suspected shoplifters being confronted by a shopkeeper - who says he has carried out more than 50 citizen's arrests on thieves in two years.

Martin Gaunt says he feels left with no choice other than to front up to offenders to protect his shop Happy Piranha. The shopkeeper has defied criminals inside and outside his shop - telling them he has the right to detain them until police arrive.

He has also installed 12 CCTV cameras across the three shops he has in the seaside town centre.

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However, the 62-year-old says he doesn't have 'proper' support from the police - adding that the criminality is affecting the whole community in town.

Various videos (watch above) show him confronting suspected shoplifters outside his store.

He said: "We are now at a stage where our streets are becoming dangerous because we are not tackling the problem at grassroots level.

Happy Piranha store owner Martin Gaunt (centre) outside his store with sons Sam and Josh.Happy Piranha store owner Martin Gaunt (centre) outside his store with sons Sam and Josh.
Happy Piranha store owner Martin Gaunt (centre) outside his store with sons Sam and Josh. | Martin Gaunt / SWNS

"The shoplifting that I want to prevent isn't because I am worried about losing a £20 teddy bear - the issue is how it affects the whole social fabric of the town and the community.

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"In a town like Truro we will lose at least a million pounds a year - if not two million pounds or more - in theft. And that is all going to stimulate crime."

Office of National Statistics figures reveal there were 469,788 incidents of shoplifting in the year to June in England and Wales - a surge of 28 per cent on 2023.

Mr Gaunt, whose shop is in Truro, Cornwall, uses his powers of arrest under Section 24A of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984.

But sometimes it can become violent - even though Mr Gaunt says they do everything they can to avoid it. Mr Gaunt said crime in his store as become an “epidemic”. He said that shoplifters tended to be a mixture of people with drug and alcohol addictions.

Chief Constable Amanda Blakeman, the National Police Chiefs' Council (NPCC) lead for acquisitive crime, said they were “committed” to cutting shoplifting and holding offenders to account.

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