Mother-of-two Samantha Donnelly was eventually snagged by a security guard at a supermarket in north London – and now she opens up about her crooked experiences
A mum has lifted the lid on her experiences of brazenly shoplifting for 12 months.
Samantha Donnelly went undetected as she repeatedly nicked low value items from shops and supermarkets in her area. She estimates she secured groceries, like bread, milk and vegetables, worth a total of £1,000 in the year.
But after Samantha, a quaified primary school teacher, was eventually snagged, she visited her GP and was diagnosed with obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD). The doctor explained to Samantha she “had a compulsion for excitement and validation” and sent her to a therapy group, at which she met other people with similar shoplifting experiences.
The mum, from north London, has since kicked out the habit – but gets nervous when she goes shopping. She now wants to share her experience to raise awareness of mental health challenges.
Samantha, who risked her career when she repeatedly shoplifted, said: “I know that some thieves are stealing for financial gain. Some will be stealing because they can’t afford their food or clothes, which is tragic.
“But some people – and judging by my support group, a lot of women – are stealing because their mental health has taken a downwards turn. It’s no excuse, of course. Lots of people with mental health problems do not turn to crime. But if one woman reads my story and recognises herself in it, I want her to know that she can get help – before she does something she really regrets.”
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Shoplifting offences recorded by police in England and Wales hit a 20-year high, with a total of 469,788 incidents logged in the year to June 2024. This is a 29% increase from the 365,173 recorded in the previous 12 months, marking the highest figure since records began in March 2003, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
But Samantha’s first incidence happened almost by accident when, in 2022, she had hung a large bag of nappies – worth around £25 – over the handles of her daughter’s buggy and forgot to scan them.
Yet it was this danger and risk, which Samantha found exciting. She added: “As I walked hurriedly home, I felt a tingle of something thrilling. An excitement I couldn’t remember feeling for a very long time.
“Of course, I knew it was wrong. Even as a teenager I’d always seen myself as one of life’s ‘good people’, a rule-follower rather than a rule-breaker. I’d never have dreamed of stealing sweets from the pick ’n’ mix or swiping a lipstick from the chemist. Until having my second child, I’d worked as a primary school teacher, helping pupils learn right from wrong.”
Samantha was caught out in 2023 when she tried to nick her weekly shop from a supermarket. A security guard collared the woman and she was taken into an office in the shop, where she had “broke down completely”. She was allowed to go – on the condition she took herself to a police station the next day to report what she had done.
And the mum did – as her “whole body trembled”. Officers questioned Samantha and showed her CCTV of her final act. The woman was cautioned, ordered to write a formal letter of apology to the supermarket manager, and asked to prove she would seek professional help from my GP.
Her OCD diagnosis followed and with it came her “lightbulb moment”. The mum told Mail Online: “I was shocked. I was expecting to be diagnosed with depression or anxiety, but my therapist explained that I had a compulsion for excitement and validation. It was like a lightbulb moment.
“Guilt and shame overwhelmed me at first, but my therapist helped me to understand that this was actually a sign I was a good person who didn’t want to keep doing this.
“I was put in a therapy group with half a dozen others with similar shoplifting experiences. They were all women and all around the same age – I’ve no idea why, as statistics show that more men tend to shoplift.”
*Samantha Donnelly is a pseudonym. Names and identifying details have been changed.