Off duty police officer apprehends shoplifter

An off-duty police officer has been praised after he raced outside a shop to catch a shoplifter.

PC Luke Kerruish was shopping at Lady Bay Retail Park in Nottingham when he noticed a man acting suspiciously inside the One Beyond store on Monday 12 February.

After observing the man erratically fill a bag with products, he followed the man as he walked back towards the store entrance.

The shoplifter then ran outside the store and PC Kerruish gave chase, apprehending him in the car park.

PC Kerruish informed him he was an off-duty officer and detained him at the scene until uniformed colleagues arrived to arrest him.

Enquiries linked him to a spate of shop thefts committed at stores across Nottingham in recent weeks.

Liam Clarke, of Hodgkinson Street, Netherfield, was later charged and put before the courts.

The 40-year-old appeared at Nottingham Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday (14 February) and pleaded guilty to ten shop thefts between 12 January and 12 February this year.

He was jailed for 10 weeks, suspended for 12 months, and ordered to pay £401.50 compensation.

Sergeant Stephanie Clough, of Nottinghamshire Police, said:

“Shoplifting can have a huge impact on both businesses and those who work for them and often comes hand-in-hand with other crimes, including criminal damage and violence.

“We hope this conviction will show Clarke and other shoplifters that our dedicated officers work hard to tackle this type of offending – both on and off duty.

“As demonstrated by PC Kerruish, police officers may be off-duty but they are always ready to spring into action if and when they need to.”