Thieves who stole from Tesco have been banned from all stores after taking £4,600 in high-value items.
A three-month shoplifting campaign carried out by Mariana Ghencea, 40, and Robert-Florin Ghencea, 28, came to an end when officers arrested them on May 1.
The pair first came to the attention of the police when they first shoplifted in Tesco in Gillingham, Kent.
Officers were able to link the two thieves across the south eastern county, having targeted stores in Sevenoaks, Whitstable and Folkestone.
Investigators then contacted the supermarket’s head office and worked with its security team to uncover a further 26 thefts carried out by the pair, Kent Online reports.
Their campaign covered stories across south England between February 19 and April 3.
They stole premium items such as Filippo Berio olive oil, Lurpak butter and Lavazza coffee beans.
The value of goods stolen each visit ranged from £59 to £535, with the total estimated at around £4,630.
The police began investigating the two theives after they targeted Tesco Extra in Gillingham, Kent
|
GOOGLE STREET VIEW
Police traced the couple’s vehicle to Dagenham in east London and attended two addresses linked to them on May 1.
The male suspect was found hiding in a garden shed, but officers managed to arrest both of them on Arnold Road.
At Medway Magistrates’ Court on May 4, the pair admitted to all offences and were given conditional bail, including a ban from every Tesco store in the country.
Investigating officer Police Sergeant Sophie Lawrie said: “The Ghenceas have caused havoc to businesses across south England and we are satisfied they admitted to having done so.
Walker Smith was sacked from Waitrose after stopping a shoplifter and had to set up a GoFundMe page to be able to live
|
GOFUNDME / WALKER SMITH
“They have caused a nuisance for numerous security guards who have had to confront them during their offending, as well as taking thousands of pounds worth of items.”
She added: “Our officers acted quickly and drove to Dagenham to arrest them, which should act as a warning to others not to come into our county and offend. We will come and find you wherever you are.”
This crime is an example of surging retail theft that has left businesses, staff and police forces grappling with a crisis that retailers say is “spiralling out of control”.
Shoplifting offences in England and Wales reached their highest levels since current police recording practices began in the year to March 2025, with 530,643 offences reported.
These figures were a 20 per cent increase on the previous year, according to the Office of National Statistics.
Whilst the most recent figures show a one per cent decrease to 509,566 offences in the year to December 2025, retail groups remain deeply concerned, with fears over organised crime becoming more prolific.
The scale of the problem has placed shop workers in an increasingly difficult position, with some facing dismissal for attempting to catch a shoplifter.
Walker Smith, a Waitrose employee for 17 years, was sacked after grabbing a bag of Easter eggs from a known repeat offender at the chain’s Clapham Junction branch.
Waitrose defended its policy by saying no product was worth risking a worker’s life for, pointing to previous incidents in which staff had been hospitalised after confronting shoplifters.
Gary MacArthur lost his job at Sainsbury’s after escorting a bottle-hurling shoplifter from his store on the same day he performed CPR on the store’s only security guard.
Sainsbury’s said it was seeing violence, aggression and theft in its stores daily and that its policy was specifically designed to keep colleagues safe rather than asking them to put themselves at risk by confronting offenders.
Sean Egan, a Morrisons store manager with 29 years of service, was also dismissed after tackling a serial shoplifter who was attempting to steal alcohol.
However, the supermarket said its deter-and-not-detain procedures “must be strictly followed”.
The Ghenceas are due to be sentenced on July 16.
