Police figures show recorded thefts falling locally, while shopkeepers and former offender describe ‘daily’ losses and low reporting rates

POLICE statistics suggest shoplifting is falling across Wales – but retailers in Pembrokeshire have told The Herald the problem remains persistent, under-reported and, in some cases, worse than ever.

Figures from the Office for National Statistics show a 10% decrease in police-recorded shoplifting across Wales in the year to September. In the Dyfed-Powys Police area, which covers Pembrokeshire, recorded offences fell by 20%.

The numbers were welcomed this week by retail union Usdaw, which said the drop offered “hope” that government action on retail crime was starting to have an effect.

However, several local traders said the official figures do not reflect what they are seeing on the ground.

One Milford Haven shopkeeper, who asked not to be named, told The Herald: “We don’t always report it now. You’d spend half your day on the phone. Sometimes it’s easier just to write it off. But it’s happening all the time.”

Another said theft had become “a daily nuisance”, adding that repeat offenders often returned within days.

Under-reporting concerns

The gap between statistics and experience may be explained by the way crimes are recorded.

Police figures only count incidents that are reported and logged. Retailers say many low-value thefts go unreported due to time pressures, lack of confidence that action will follow, and the administrative burden of statements and CCTV downloads.

Usdaw’s own survey of nearly 9,500 shop workers found that more than three-quarters had experienced verbal abuse, while over half had been threatened – with many incidents linked to theft.

Former offender speaks out

The Herald also spoke to a man from Milford Haven who was recently released from prison after serving time for repeated theft offences.

He said he had spent more than two years funding a drug habit by shoplifting across Pembrokeshire and in Cardiff.

According to his account, it was possible to steal goods worth up to £1,000 a day and sell them on, and he was “rarely stopped”.

“Most of the time you just walk out,” he claimed. “Even if staff catch you, they don’t always call police. It’s not worth their time.”

He said he had been detained around 50 times during what he described as hundreds of incidents, but only about ten led to police involvement and just four resulted in court.

While his experience is anecdotal, it echoes the frustrations voiced by local businesses who believe many thefts never make it into official statistics.

Government crackdown

The issue has also been raised in Parliament.

Pembrokeshire MP Henry Tufnell has previously said he has spoken to local shop owners about the impact of retail crime and has welcomed government measures aimed at strengthening enforcement.

Labour has pledged tougher action on shoplifting, including ending the widely criticised £200 threshold that many retailers felt led to low-value thefts being deprioritised, alongside promises of more visible neighbourhood policing.

Retailers say any extra support would be welcome – but many believe rebuilding confidence that crimes will be taken seriously is key.

As one trader put it: “The stats might say it’s down. But if you’re running a small shop and losing stock every week, it doesn’t feel like it.”

Police seized devices after intelligence linked Pembrokeshire address to illegal cloud storage accounts

A 23-YEAR-OLD Pembrokeshire man has avoided immediate custody after admitting making and possessing indecent images of children, including extreme bestiality material.

Ryan Beale, aged 23, appeared at Swansea Crown Court for sentencing this week.

At his first hearing, before magistrates on December 31, he entered guilty pleas and being granted conditional bail.

The court heard the case followed an intelligence-led police investigation linking Beale to a Dropbox account suspected of storing illegal material. Officers executed a warrant at his home on December 18.

During his arrest, Beale told officers: “I don’t use Dropbox,” claiming his email and Google accounts had been compromised.

However, police seized his mobile phone and computer equipment. A forensic examination found the email address connected to the Dropbox account stored on his device. Although the account had also been accessed from overseas locations, including Nigeria, investigators were satisfied it was controlled by Beale and linked to a larger cloud storage account containing significant volumes of illegal content.

Officers discovered 120 Category A images, 36 Category B images and 29 Category C images.

Category A represents the most serious level of abuse.

The material included extreme and disturbing bestiality content. Further Category C images were also located within the Dropbox account.

Two identified victims depicted in the images were girls aged nine and eleven.

Beale initially denied the allegations but later admitted the offences.

Passing sentence, at Swansea Crown Court on Tuesday (Feb 3) the His Honour Geraint Walters said: “This was not an innocent pastime. Every time an adult views that image, a child is still being abused.”

He added that an early guilty plea had spared Beale immediate custody but warned the offences would have lifelong consequences.

“The public have no time for anybody doing this,” the judge said. “If you’re doing this, the police will find out. They didn’t knock on your door randomly — they knew what they were looking for.”

Beale was sentenced to eight months’ imprisonment, suspended for two years. He must complete 20 days of rehabilitation activity and pay £300 in prosecution costs.

The court also imposed a Sexual Harm Prevention Order, ordered the forfeiture and destruction of his electronic devices, and placed him on the Sex Offenders Register for ten years.

“If you keep yourself out of trouble, you won’t have to serve that custodial sentence,” the judge told him.

Judge gives CPS more time to review latest road traffic law guidance before case returns in March

A HAKIN man’s appeal against a conviction for driving without insurance has been delayed after a judge granted prosecutors additional time to review updated legal guidance.

Seventy-six-year-old Niall Taylor, of Haven Drive, appeared at Swansea Crown Court on Tuesday (Jan 13) for a mention hearing in his case.

Taylor has accepted the finding that he drove otherwise than in accordance with a licence, but is challenging the separate conviction for using a vehicle without insurance.

The case relates to an incident on January 18, 2023, when he drove a Vauxhall Zafira along Hammond Avenue, Haverfordwest.

The matter has already followed an unusual procedural history. Taylor initially pleaded not guilty in the magistrates’ court but later changed his plea during the original trial. Questions were subsequently raised over whether that plea had been “equivocal”, leading the case to be reopened under Section 142 of the Magistrates’ Courts Act 1980 and reheard in full.

Following a trial of the facts, magistrates found him guilty and imposed sentence in December. Taylor has since lodged an appeal focused solely on the insurance offence.

During Tuesday’s hearing, His Honour Judge Walters granted the Crown Prosecution Service 28 days to review Wilkinson’s Road Traffic Offences (32nd Edition), the leading legal reference text used by courts in motoring cases.

Addressing the court, the judge said the matter may still require further consideration, adding: “The court still might want to reconsider the sentence even if the insurance company is right. It does look as if different insurance companies do things in different ways.”

He added: “It is not in fact void, but it is voidable.”

Taylor maintains that a valid insurance policy was in force at the time of driving and argues that, in law, third-party cover cannot simply be cancelled because of an administrative licensing issue.

The appeal is due to return to Swansea Crown Court on March 27, when further legal argument is expected.

The core issue in Taylor’s case (LONG READ FOR LEGAL BUFFS)

Taylor was convicted of driving otherwise than in accordance with a licence (s.87 RTA 1988) and driving without insurance (s.143 RTA 1988) following an incident on January 18, 2023. The insurance charge hinges on the allegation that his licence expiry voided his policy entirely. Taylor maintains this was an administrative lapse only — a forgetful non-renewal — and that a valid policy remained in force, particularly for compulsory third-party cover.

His Honour Judge Walters, during a January 13, 2026 mention hearing, granted the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) 28 days to review Wilkinson’s Road Traffic Offences (32nd Edition), a leading authority on such matters. The judge observed: “It is not in fact void, but it is voidable,” and noted variations in how insurers handle such breaches. He also indicated the court might reconsider sentencing even if the insurer’s position holds, underscoring the case’s complexity.

Void vs. voidable: A crucial legal distinction

UK law distinguishes between policies that are:

• Void ab initio — Never existed; no cover at any point.
• Voidable — Valid until the insurer actively repudiates (cancels/avoid) it due to a breach.

For criminal liability under s.143, the prosecution must prove no valid insurance existed at the time of driving. A voidable policy satisfies this requirement unless the insurer had already taken steps to avoid it beforehand.

The judge’s phrasing aligns with this: the licence lapse may allow the insurer to void the policy, but it does not erase cover retroactively without affirmative action. This supports Taylor’s argument that the policy remained effective for statutory purposes.

Leading precedent: Adams v Dunne [1978] R.T.R. 281

This Divisional Court case is frequently cited in similar defences:

• A disqualified driver misrepresented his status to obtain insurance.
• The court ruled the policy voidable (not void) due to misrepresentation.
• It remained valid under s.143 until the insurer repudiated it pre-offence.

The principle extends to less severe breaches like licence expiry:

• Expiry at 70 is not disqualification (a court-imposed ban) or fraud.
• Unless the insurer discovered the lapse, notified Taylor, and formally ended cover before January 18, 2023, the policy endured.
• In routine forgetfulness cases, insurers seldom act preemptively — they continue premiums and only address issues reactively (e.g., on claim).

This precedent bolsters Taylor: even significant breaches do not automatically nullify cover for criminal law.

Typical motor policy wording and licence expiry

Standard UK policies often state coverage applies if the driver:

• Holds a current valid licence, or
• Has held a licence and is not disqualified from holding/obtaining one.

Taylor, having held a full licence for decades, meets the second condition. Licence expiry at 70 is a renewable administrative matter (free, self-declared fitness via DVLA), not a permanent bar.

Even stricter wording usually renders the policy voidable, not void. The judge’s remark on insurer variations (“different insurance companies do things in different ways”) highlights that some policies explicitly protect against lapses, while others may be more rigid — but criminal validity still turns on repudiation timing.

Statutory protections and public policy

• RTA 1988 s.151 mandates insurers pay third-party claims even if avoiding against their policyholder (then recover costs). This presumes initial validity.
• Retained EU Motor Insurance Directive rules (post-Brexit) prioritise compulsory third-party cover; technical lapses cannot easily nullify it.
• Taylor reportedly relies on these, arguing automatic voiding for licence issues undermines the scheme’s victim-protection purpose.

Criminal courts interpret s.143 strictly: a policy valid on its face (certificate issued) counts unless clearly invalidated beforehand.

Practical nuances and mitigating factors

• No automatic link — Licence offences (s.87) are separate from insurance validity, which is contractual.
• Age-related mitigation — Forgetfulness in over-70 renewals (no mandatory reminders, simple process) often qualifies as special reasons, avoiding or reducing penalties even if no-insurance is technically made out.
• Procedural context — The case’s unusual path (equivocal plea concerns, reopening under s.142 Magistrates’ Courts Act 1980, rehearing, hearsay criticisms) provides appeal grounds beyond the insurance point.
• Wilkinson’s review — The adjournment signals judicial caution; the text likely covers void/voidable applications to licence lapses.

Potential counter-arguments and edge cases

• If Taylor’s policy required proactive notification of expiry and he failed to disclose, or if the insurer repudiated pre-driving, validity could fail.
• Material non-disclosure under the Insurance Act 2015 might allow avoidance, though honest forgetfulness rarely meets the threshold for fraud.
• Stricter policies lacking “has held” clauses could weaken the defence — but precedents favor cover persistence.
• If an accident had occurred (none reported here), insurer recovery actions might differ, but the criminal focus remains time-of-driving status.

Broader implications

This case highlights tensions in road traffic law: balancing enforcement against over-criminalising elderly drivers’ honest oversights. Over-70s renewals are straightforward, yet lapses occur. A ruling favouring Taylor could clarify that mere expiry rarely voids insurance outright for s.143, reducing such charges to no-licence offences (typically 3-6 points, modest fine, possible leniency).

Conversely, a stricter outcome might prompt insurers to tighten wording or require notifications.

The appeal’s focus on insurance law — via Wilkinson’s guidance and judicial comments — suggests Taylor’s position has genuine legal substance. The outcome will provide valuable precedent for similar scenarios.

This brief is for informational purposes and does not constitute legal advice. Readers in comparable situations should seek specialist motoring solicitor guidance. We will update as developments emerge post-March 27, 2026.