Petrol thief drivers won't be prosecuted because they 'may not be having great day'

Petrol thieves who drive off without paying won't get prosecuted as they may not be 'having a great day'. Lincolnshire Police have sparked controversy by refusing to prosecute petrol thieves, suggesting they might simply not be "having a great day".

Superintendent Fran Harrod urged petrol station owners to pursue civil action instead of criminal charges for fuel theft. Harrold urged petrol station owners to pursue matters through civil action instead. The senior officer stated the force had “finite resources” to investigate cases and had to prove there was intent to steal.

Kavita Pilani said her garage had suffered 50 thefts in six months and called on the force to “stop saying that this is not a crime” because it was “encouraging” people to do it. People were filling their tanks with “nothing less than £80 or £90” of fuel before driving off without paying.

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She said she had CCTV of suspected offenders and had reported every incident, but the police “don’t do anything about it”. Ms Harrod said: “There is an offence of making off without payment. The issue that comes with that particular crime type is whether that is an honest mistake – somebody has filled up, they’re not having a great day and they’ve driven off – or whether it’s not.”

She added: “In those high-volume incidences when one individual has left a garage without paying, there are numerous options that assist with the finite resources policing have – and perhaps more importantly for the businesses, to get them their money back.”

Businesses should report fuel theft so officers can “understand the picture” and “provide preventative support”, Ms Harrod said. Ms Harrod said fuel theft was going up across Lincolnshire, which was why the force was concentrating on “designing out” a preventable crime.

“We’ve got to be as efficient and effective as we possibly can to drive that crime down across the board,” she added.