Qld: Storeowner condemned over "wall of shame"

AAP General News (Australia)
04-11-2008
Qld: Storeowner condemned over "wall of shame"

By Evan Schwarten

BRISBANE, April 11 AAP - A retailer who posted pictures of alleged shoplifters, including
children, on "a wall of shame" at his business has been criticised but is not likely to
face criminal charges.

Included in the wall, posted at the Bargain Warehouse at Goodna, west of Brisbane,
are photographs of a mother and daughter and a 13- and 14-year-old, all allegedly caught
stealing from the business.

To have the photographs removed, the owner insists the alleged shoplifters pay a $100
donation to the Rotary Club.

Under Queensland law, it is illegal to identify children allegedly involved in criminal activity.

However, a police spokeswoman said none of the people photographed had made a complaint,
though one had been made by Ipswich City Councillor Paul Tully, and at this stage the
business owner had not committed an offence.

The retailer could not be contacted today but it is believed the photographs have
since been taken down.

Queensland Retail Traders and Shopkeepers Association executive director Scott Driscoll
said the retailer's actions were misguided.

"It's not the way to be going. We certainly wouldn't be advising our members to take
this approach at all," he told AAP.

"We're not talking about something that has been prosecuted and an outcome found -
wild allegations and suspicion is not the way our society operates."

However, Mr Driscoll, whose association represents more than 3,000 Queensland traders,
said he understood the owner's frustration.

He said shoplifting cost Australian businesses $800 million a year.

"I feel greatly for the shopkeeper. Obviously, you don't do this for no reason and
you don't do it the first time you've suffered somebody stealing from your business,"

he said.

Mr Driscoll urged the retailer to find legal ways of dealing with his concerns, such
as working closely with police and keeping photographs of alleged offenders away from
public view so staff could recognise them if they returned.

AAP ews/pjo/jt/cdh

KEYWORD: PHOTOS LEAD

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