retail loss prevention

[beverleyjane]

my 16 yr old daughter was recently with a 'friend' who was caught shoplifting. my daughter had taken items from the shelf and handed them to her friend as the shelf fell down. the girl put the items in her bag without my daughter knowing.
the police have looked at the cctv and have confirmed there is no evidence showing my daughter was aware or a part of the shoplifting.
however, claires accessories have contacted us through RLP and they are asking for 137.50 for the items, value of 15.50 which were recovered by claires.
I have written to them saying that as she is innocent we wouldn't be paying the fine.
they have replied stating that the staff and security staff are eye witnesses to her passing the items to the friend.we haven't denied this. they say they will use this evidence in court.
they also state that the fact that the police are not taking any further action does not prejudice their right to a civil claim.
they also say that my daughter and her 'co-defendant' are 'jointly and severally liable for this incident and that each shall remain liable until the fullamount of the claim has been paid. if either is prepared to pay the fullamount the liability of each will be estinguished.
they have then given us 21 days from the date of the letter to pay or they will take their clients instructions on next action against her.
so far I haven't replied, I have no intention of making any payment. do I reply and say that? or do I ignore the letter?
any advice will be greatly appreciated!

[buildersmate]

For starters, have you been through this little lot of Q&As.
Obviously it portrays their side of the story, but it might help understand where they are coming from.
http://www.lossprevention.co.uk/advice.aspx

[Bat_Boy]

I honestly wouldn't just 'ignore' the matter, as this could seriously damage your daughters future, say she wanted to go into law and there was a judgment against her or she found out that her credit was tarnished when applying for a loan.
Contact the police and ask their opinion on the matter, i wouldn't dial '999' but get a copy of the local police stations number or better still, go in and have a chat.

You could of course, contact a solicitor and ask for their opinion, but to do that would be counter productive as you don't want to pay out any money.
If.. in the case you would like to forget this whole matter, i would strongly suggest paying what they are asking for, but get a copy of exactly what the damages are for, if the stolen items are only for fifteen, what does the rest cover etc etc.

and maybe keep your daughter away from her friend. (but i highly doubt one was stealing while the other was oblivious)

[buildersmate]

The answer to 'what the rest covers' is given in the Q&As that I provided - part of it covers the cost of store security. This principle (of recovery of costs as a civil claim) has been tried and tested in court before, and has succeeded. The way to defend such a civil action is probably by providing a defence to the statement 'I didn't do it' - but such a defence must be couched in legal terms.

[bednobs]

why isnt the friend who did the shoplifting paying? Have you spoken to her parents? I would guess the friend is saying that your daughter was helping, no?

[buildersmate]

'Joint and severally liable', bednobs.

[bednobs]

yes, i know that means they can go after either one, but if as beverlyjane states ONLY the friend did/had the intention to shoplift, then why aren't they offering to pay to get the daughter out of the Sugar?

[joko]

I dont see how merely handing something to someone in a store constitutes shop lifting..
once the items left your daughters hands, what someone else did with them is not her fault.

[buildersmate]

You are entitled to your opinion.
It's the view of the magistrate that counts.

[beverleyjane]

thanks for your help.
the other girl had to pay a fixed penalty fine to the police but my daughter didn't as when the police checked the cctv there was no evidence to show my daughter had any knowledge of the theft.
If the other girl has paid RLP then that's the end and we don't have to pay??

[bednobs]

yes

[simmoshouse]

How can they take action against her when she is 16. Paying their extortionate bill cannot be deemed as a necessity. Hopefully it has gone away now if the other girl has paid but if not tell them to "sue and be damned"