A shop owner has said that children in Limerick are being taught to steal by their parents. 

Shane Gleeson runs five Spar shops in Limerick City and said shoplifting is not just common, but a habit that is passed down through generations of families. 

On Lunchtime Live, he said he often sees it “in front of my eyes”. 

“The most recent one I passed on was one where the two parents came in, they were teaching and encouraging the child to steal,” he recalled. 

“I could actually hear them doing it; the child went on to hide the stuff in the buggy, as she was instructed to do. 

“Afterwards, I had another lady; I knew who she was and I would have known her mother and her grandmother as well. 

“Each one in turn has instructed the other on stealing.” 

Members of Gardaí on patrol. Picture by: Leah Farrell/© RollingNews.ie.

On another recent occasion, Mr Gleeson said he saw a girl of seven or eight enter the shop who “clearly had been coached”. 

“She knew what she was doing,” he said. 

“I was directly behind her; I’d been in the gym myself, so I came in not my normal shop gear and I don’t think she noticed me. 

“I witnessed it and saw it; I waited till they got to the door and I confronted them. 

“I looked at their stuffed bag, I got some of it back, I got a few thumps and digs along the way and a torrent of abuse, ‘How dare you accuse the children of stealing?’” 

He told the mother she was clearly teaching her children to steal and that she was an “absolute disgrace”. 

“This mother was taught by her mother and, unfortunately, I would have been around for that as well,” he said. 

“They would have been regular visitors to our shop, I would hesitate to say ‘customers’.

“So, I’d know them well.” 

'There’s no deterrent'

Afterwards, he checked the CCTV and it confirmed as “clear as day” that the children had been shoplifting.  

“This is the fourth generation of this family and I just question what’s being done,” he said. 

“Because we’ve caught quite a few people like this, we’ve reported it, they have been prosecuted - but nothing actually happens. 

“There’s no punishment, so there’s no deterrent and the behaviour just continues.” 

The issue, he added, is not a problem borne out of poverty as many of the women are “very well dressed” and he believes there is “no shortage of money” in their household. 

In Ireland, the age of criminal responsibility is 12 - meaning children of 11 or under cannot be prosecuted for any criminal activity.

Main image: A young boy shoplifting. Picture by: Alamy.com.