Shop owner says she has 'lost faith' in police after two stores robbed in alleged 'targeted' attack
CCTV footage shows the first theft in Cobham and then the second theft in Wimbledon.
The owner of a two stores in London and Surrey says she has lost faith in the police response after they were targeted by thieves.
Paige Mengers owns Phoenix Style a luxury fashion resale store.
One of the stores, on Oakdene Parade in Cobham, was attacked on 13 January 2025. Two men used bolt cutters to steal a bag worth six thousand pounds. Surrey Police came to take statements.
Less than 24 hours after the first robbery, the same two men targeted their other store in Wimbledon, taking more luxury bags.
The Metropolitan Police have not yet visited this store.
"We don't have any protection. Even though we paid for the panic button to go off. The police didn't even turn up," Paige said.
"So we've got two witnesses who saw the whole thing happen, who've come in and given their names and details. The police have not even followed that up. What am I paying my business rates for?"
Paige Mengers took to social media and told customers what had happened and added staff were "scared and shaken".
Surrey police told ITV News that targeting shoplifting is a priority.
In a statement, Assistant Chief Constable Sarah Grahame, said: "We aim to approach every investigation with care and service at the forefront of our minds, and we apologise that a delay in officer attendance in this case caused additional distress.
"We know shoplifting has a significant impact on businesses and can leave shop staff feeling fearful and vulnerable – particularly in the case of female staff. It is a priority for us to robustly pursue any offenders and get them before the courts.
"As part of our on-going investigation into this theft, officers have visited the shop to take victim and witness statements, conducted local CCTV enquiries, released an ID appeal for the two suspects and checked their images against the Police National Database. We have also increased proactive patrols in the local area.
"Targeting shoplifting continues to be a priority and in the last year Surrey Police has achieved a four-fold increase in the number of charges for shoplifting county-wide - amounting to more than 800 cases."
Paige Mengers says it's more than just shoplifting.
She added: "They came in, they were barricading the door, they came in with tools with intent to cut through our security wires."
She also said she "dreads" to think what would have happened if staff tried to stop them, and has trained them not to approach people like that because they are dangerous.
All of the stolen goods equated to around £17,000.
In a statement, the Metropolitan Police said: "Police were called to reports of theft at a shop at High Street, Wimbledon at around 12:40hrs on Tuesday, 14 January.
“We are in contact with the shop owner and are carrying out enquiries, including CCTV work.
"The investigation is ongoing. There have been no arrests at this stage.”
Current data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) shows shoplifting has continued to increase, and remains at the highest level in two decades.
The latest police recorded crime data, for the year ending December 2023, has also shown rises in both shoplifting and robbery of business property, taking the trend above pre-pandemic levels.
Matthew Jaffa, from the Federation of small businesses, adds: "We need to make sure that small businesses have the assurance and the confidence that a crime is going to be dealt with.
"Two fifths of small businesses don't report crime. Because they don't think there's going to be any action off the back of it.
"We have to give them the confidence in that area and make sure there's a full business crime strategy."
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