Owner of Beaulieu store Norris and Sons, Reginald Chester-Sterne, slams police over dropping shoplifting cases

THE owner of a struggling New Forest agricultural store has slammed police for dropping two shoplifting cases, claiming they even returned stolen goods to suspects.

Reginald Chester-Sterne told the A&T thieves have regularly targeted Norris and Sons, off Dock Lane, Beaulieu, as he referred to specific incidents last year.

During one, staff had alerted him to two women who entered with an empty carrier bag before leaving with it full, having not bought anything.

“The two women were in a car outside and I stopped them by standing right in front of it so they would have had to run me over,” Mr Chester-Sterne said.

“I told them, ‘I think you’ve got items from my shop that you haven’t paid for’.”

He discovered £70 worth of horse studs and £40 of horse supplements.

“The younger woman said she had a receipt for the studs, but what she showed me was confirmation of an order from a previous date,” he continued.

“I happened to have a policeman living next door, and he came out and detained them while the uniformed guy came out in a patrol car.”

But, about six weeks later, Mr Chester-Sterne received an email stating the case was dropped due to lack of evidence.

Invited to collect the supplements, he was astonished to hear the studs had been handed back to the women.

The officer told him that as the pair had produced an online order, it was felt that “on the balance of probability” they were the rightful owners.

“Firstly, the police shouldn’t use a ‘balance of probability’ and, secondly, that online order wasn’t a receipt,” he said.

“To cap it all, I then got a letter asking me to rate the police response!”

In November, two men allegedly walked out without paying for two coats – a £450 Barber and a £150 Percussion.

Mr Chester-Sterne reported they threatened him as he tried to stop them leaving.

Having driven after their car to get the registration, which he passed to police, he was appalled to hear a week later no further action would be taken.

“It’s bad enough trying to do business as it is, but if they’re not going to respond to problems then what’s the point?” he fumed.

“It’s not very satisfactory and I don’t know why we pay our rates.”

Norris and Sons had been run by the Norris family since 1876, before Mr Chester-Sterne took it over in 2011.

It continued operating during the Covid-19 lockdowns due to being an agricultural business and still enjoyed trading success.

But its fortunes took a dive last November amid the cost-of-living crisis as rising overheads combined with stock price hikes.

Hampshire police Insp. Tom Orchard maintained officers carried out thorough investigations but lack of evidence prevented further action.

Referring to the June incident, he said: “The two suspects – a 25-year-old woman and a 60-year-old woman, both from Southampton – voluntarily attended an interview under caution at a police custody suite. No further action was taken against either suspect.

“Whilst we appreciate that the victims in this instance are upset concerning the policing response to this matter; a robust investigation has been completed and there was insufficient evidence to support the prosecution.”

Insp. Orchard vowed police took theft reports “very seriously” and aimed to conduct thorough investigations.

He added: “We are committed, where the evidence allows, to bringing offenders to justice.”