Award-winning Carl furious at staff member’s caution despite confession to stealing cards
Independent greeting card retailer Carl Dunne has hit out at the justice system after a trusted staff member caught stealing from his shop was only cautioned.
The co-owner of Cards & Gifts Dronfield, Derbyshire, called police after discovering the woman and her sister had taken items from the store, but he and partner Ollie Guise-Smith are furious the pair were not prosecuted even though there is CCTV footage and they admitted to the crimes.
“We have the evidence and a confession,” Carl told PG Buzz, “yet they felt it was proportionate to caution them only? Where’s the justice? We passed all the evidence to the police who took nearly two months to make any movement on the matter.”
His anger led to a story appearing in his local paper, the Derbyshire Times, last week where a Derbyshire Constabulary spokesman was quoted as saying an offence of theft by two people was reported in early January 2022, and officers interviewed the women, who admitted the offences, before the decision was made to caution the pair – a caution is recorded on the police national computer and will show up on an enhanced DBS check.
The spokesman told the newspaper: “In this case the following points were taken into consideration – the relatively low sum stolen (£58), the previous good character of the two women and the immediate acceptance of their guilt.
“While the wishes of victims are taken in to account, it is the role of the police service to ensure that a correct and proportionate outcome is reached based on all the factors found during an investigation.”
Carl, who won a Retas award for his previous Cards & Gifts shop in Sheffield city centre, confirms that £58 worth of missing stock could be tracked through the till, but their instore CCTV captured the culprits also removing significant amounts of cards, wrap and bows from the stockroom.
He added: “How is this justice or serving the community? How can someone commit a crime and get away with it so easily? I’m so angered by this. I’ve been stolen from, defrauded, I’m out of pocket for at least £100 and the people that are supposed to uphold justice do nothing – not to mention the fact that the police made no effort to recover the goods that we identified.”
“Since the member of staff’s dismissal we’ve realised how many additional items are missing that can only be attributed to their theft as they’ve been taken from the stockroom. Even for the £58 theft that they’ve admitted to, I’ll have to take them to county court to reclaim this now. What is the point of having a police service? Who are they serving other than the criminals!”
Carl opened the Dronfield shop, along with the adjacent Corner Shop convenience store, during lockdown creating a number of retail jobs at a difficult time for the sector while still running their original Cards & Gifts Sheffield outlet in the city centre.
However, he was forced to close the Chapel Walk store on January 29 after almost five years’ trading and having won the Retas 2019 Best Greeting Card Retailer Newcomer or New Branch – North category.
Carl explained: “I had to close after years of building works wiping us off the map, no investment by the council, lies and broken promises about promotions such as Christmas decorations etc, and then Covid. I was turning a healthy profit and building the business until March 2020 then, between lockdowns and the useless social distancing alterations to the city centre, the footfall died.
“Sheffield City Council is following the same pattern they always have in moving the bulk of the shoppers from one side of the city centre to the other then back again. Our side, which was the flourishing heart of the city with M&S and John Lewis, is dying and not worth the rates we are being forced to pay. My landlord’s only comment was ‘well you’ve had grants’, and couldn’t understand when I asked how I was supposed to feed myself and pay him with the less than minimum wage equivalent grants I received.
“It really is just a sad state of affairs all round when it comes to greedy landlords – because of his short sightedness he now has five empty units in the area – councillors and politicians that are only interested in their own agenda and a police force that’s not fit for purpose.”
Top: Blooming new store – theft spoils success of Dronfield store
