'Parents are coaching children to steal from shops in Limerick'

A RETAILER has described a new wave of parents ‘coaching’ their children to steal from shops as “child abuse” - and has called for Tusla to intervene.

Shane Gleeson, who runs several Spar branches across the city, said the child protection agency needs to get involved.

And if it continues, ultimately, parents who are doing this should have their child taken off them, he said.

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“I think this could be categorised as child abuse. If you’re teaching a child to steal, I think you’re abusing the child, because you’re destroying their future. It’s so unfair on them,” he said. “They are condemning those children to a life of prison. You’re robbing the children’s future by allowing them to steal.”

Mr Gleeson has often witnessed a parent teaching their child how to take items.

“I’d hear things like ‘stick it in your pocket, Jimmy, he won’t see you now’,” said the retailer.

He says he would then confront the parent, who would proceed to make a scene in the hope of leaving the store with the stolen items.

Normally, Mr Gleeson says, children will be instructed to take sweets, biscuits and minerals.

But one incident - captured on CCTV and shared with the Leader - at Mr Gleeson’s store in Castletroy, shows a girl, no older than eight, placing what appears to be a can of the energy drink Red Bull in a buggy.

She does so in the company of an adult woman and in the presence of an even younger child.

As the group rounds a corner in the aisle of the store, the two adults begin stuffing more goods - meat, rashers, and butter into another rucksack at the back of the buggy.

Gardai have confirmed they have launched an investigation into the incident, having been provided with footage.

Mr Gleeson said having witnessed the incident, he chased the culprits out the door, and managed to recover some items.

But they still managed to make off with around €45 worth of goods, he added.

The businessman believes that by refusing to turn a blind eye to the thefts, it stops it becoming a wider problem.

He says from talking to business colleagues, the same thing is taking place in other shops across Limerick.

Mr Gleeson said he would know the parents of the children themselves, and they have been stealing items since they were young.

“They have no moral compass of any kind whatsoever,” he concluded.