A new way to fight shoplifting

In Britain, about 1.7 million shoplifters are caught every year, but only about 150,000 less than 10 per cent, appear before the courts or receive a police caution. And only about 4,000, practically all of them repeat offenders, receive a prison sentence - like a 40-year-old career shoplifter, who in 25 years has come out of shops with unpaid-for merchandise about 18,000 times. Once he managed to steal nearly 200 bottles of whisky from a big supermarket in four hours, making various trolley trips.

One supermarket chain has cut shoplifting by half after taking civil action against thieves. They demand £150 plus legal costs from any thief who has been convicted or given a police caution. Those who refuse to pay face private prosecution and with it court costs, which could amount to thousands of pounds. Many American states are already operating such civil recovery procedures with great success.

career shoplifter	[kə’riə]	професійний магазинний злодій
legal costs (pl)	[’li:gəl kɔsts]	судові витрати
merchandise n	[’mə:tʃəndaiz]	товар
civil recovery procedure	[sivl ri’kʌvəri prə’si: ʤə]	відшкодування збитків згідно цивільного права
сaution n	[’kɔ: ʃn]	попередження
prison sentence	[’prizn ’sentəns]	покарання у вигляді позбавлення волі
trolley n	[’trɔli]	візок для покупок

Ex.18. Match the definition with the proper:

A motorist kills a pedestrian after an evening's drinking. A husband kills his wife after finding she has been unfaithful. Two groups of rival football supporters start a battle and are all arrested. A group of men kills five customers in a pub by leaving a bomb there. A group of young men takes a woman's handbag after threatening to attack her in a dark street. A motorist parks in a no-parking area and obstructs the traffic so that an ambulance can't get past. A group of boys breaks all the windows in a telephone box and damage the telephone. An office worker helps himself to pens and paper from his office for his own personal use. A man attacks a girl in a park and has sex with her against her will. A well-off housewife takes a bottle of perfume from a department store. A woman sells heroin to young people in the street. A boy sets fire to a shop.

Terrorism Theft Arson Shoplifting Murder Mugging Rape Vandalism Football violence Manslaughter Illegal parking Drug dealing

Ex.19. Retell the text using the following phrases:

The headline of the text is ….

The text speaks about … in details.

The text provides much information on …