I work in a supermarket and see how desperate some shoplifters are. My heart goes out to them

‘At the bottom of the shoplifting pyramid are those who are ravenously hungry. Their focus is on urgently filling their empty stomachs.’ Photograph: Maureen McLean/Shutterstock

When I got a job as a supermarket worker five years ago, I did not believe that shoplifting would be a problem. I am from west Africa, and I just couldn’t see how it would happen in Britain, where there is a benefits system, many opportunities and security guards in shops. But now, having witnessed and intervened in many shoplifting incidents, I understand the true scale of the problem.

Dame Sharon White, the chair of John Lewis Partnership, has this week called for a royal commission to look at the future of the British high street including the challenges of shoplifting, which she says is an “epidemic”. She is not wrong. My experience tells me the same, and so do the statistics: according to the British Retail Consortium, retail thefts across England and Wales rose by 26% in 2022.