Prolific offender faces exclusion from businesses across Sussex

To combat the growing issue of travelling offenders who commit offences across the county, The Sussex Business Crime Group has launched a county wide exclusion scheme which will exclude prolific offenders from almost 1000 businesses across Sussex.

Business Crime Reduction Partnerships (BCRPs) operate in many towns across Sussex, with members denying entry to anyone who has been identified committing crime or anti-social behaviour in or around participating businesses. 

Many people receive warning letters or exclusion notices every year, and this has been shown to significantly reduce criminal activities and loss of stock; something that is increasingly important as retailers find their profit margins under pressure. 

In a first for the county, the Sussex Business Crime Group has just issued their first warning letter to an individual who has been committing theft across Hastings, Eastbourne and Brighton.  The individual is already banned by Brighton and Hastings BCRPs and is close to being excluded in Eastbourne as well.  This could lead to the offender being banned from nearly 1000 businesses across the region. 

A spokesperson for Brighton & Hove BCRP said: "Until recently each town has held independent lists of known offenders, but now Sussex BCRPs are able to share intelligence through a secure on-line database that can also be accessed by Sussex Police”.  

“This means that it is possible to identify people who are offending in multiple areas and ensure their details are circulated to all BCRP members across Sussex. 

“This individual has been caught on numerous occasions in both Hastings and Eastbourne, and is now threatened with exclusion from shops not only in these towns, but also as far away as Crawley, Brighton and Worthing.

“We hope that this will prove to be a powerful deterrent for individuals who, at the moment, think they can evade detection by travelling to offend in other areas across the county.”