The police have been accused of “woke nonsense” after telling a shopkeeper to remove a sign calling shoplifters “scumbags” because it could cause offence. After a number of thefts from his vintage clothing store in Wrexham, Rob Davies put up a handwritten note that read: “Due to scumbags shoplifting, please ask for assistance to open cabinets.”
A free speech row has now erupted after officers from North Wales Police reportedly attended the store and told Mr Davies to take down the sign as it could cause offence. Mr Davies said “you couldn’t make it up”. “When I asked who it could offend, I was told a member of the public had reported the sign to them.
“I just wonder if that person was a shoplifter who was offended as it was detrimental to their work,” he said, according to The Telegraph.
The 61-year-old added: “It is a freedom of speech thing. You should be able to speak freely in this country unless you are being derogatory.
“Shoplifting is pretty much decriminalised, so I took it into my own hands. I pay their wages [the police] because I pay my taxes so I feel let down by them.
“It astounds me that the powers that be do nothing.”
Shoplifting offences have been running at record levels since last year and have now hit a new high, with figures published last month showing some 530,643 offences were recorded by forces in England and Wales in 2024/25.
Mr Davies, who has operated the Run Ragged store for five years, said over the past year he has “caught five people shoplifting”.
“The first one I called the police and they handed the shirt back to me and let him go,” he said.
“Now I don’t bother reporting them and I have had to put locks on my cabinets.”
Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp described reports that police had requested the sign be removed as “woke, weak nonsense”, adding it is “a total waste of police time”.
He told The Telegraph: “This is madness. Causing offence is not criminal and is none of the police’s business. They should be catching shoplifters, not worrying about offending them.
“Frankly, shoplifters are scumbags.”
The outrage comes as JD Vance warned the UK not to go down “a very dark path” of losing free speech.
The US Vice President, who met Foreign Secretary David Lammy at Chevening House in Kent on Friday, previously expressed fears that free speech in the UK and Europe is “in retreat”.
In response to questions over Mr Davies’ sign, Wrexham City District Inspector Rhodri Ifans said: “All reports of shoplifting are taken extremely seriously, and we are committed to combating retail theft in the city.”
He continued: “Protecting staff, businesses and their customers from this type of criminality, which has created a significant impact on their wellbeing and business, is a priority in Wrexham.”
North Wales Police has been contacted for a comment.
