LEFT-wing activists launched a mass shoplifting spree across UK supermarkets in a campaign to “liberate” food and donate it to those in need.
The fanatics targeted , and stores across several cities yesterday, stealing food from shelves for redistribution to food banks.
An activist group has launched a mass shoplifting spree across UK supermarketsCredit: PA
The protest group stole food and other essentials from supermarket shelvesCredit: PA
Take Back Power claim that no arrests were madeCredit: PA
Take Back Power organised left-wing activists in , , and Truro on Saturday to enter en masse.
They reportedly stole food items and other essentials, putting them into boxes emblazoned “these things are going to those that need them.”
The civil disobedience group defended the thefts, claiming that “what’s legal isn’t necessarily an indication of what’s moral or right.”
A spokesperson added: “I accept that going into shops and taking things without paying is against the law.
“But I really do think that we need to be looking at what is more of a problem in society: the fact that we’ve got a significant number of people having to go to .”
While the activists in Exeter and London were challenged by the shop’s security officers, the group claims no arrests were made.
officers were told by supermarket staff that a “member of the group subsequently paid for the items.”
The force said: “We are in the process of reviewing CCTV and other evidence to verify this.”
The group denied paying for the items, but said that technically “no crime was committed, because none of the produce actually ended up leaving the site” after they set up a stall for donations on the grounds of the supermarket.
Two London activists “set up a stall outside Sainsbury’s in the Lewisham Centre, to give the food back to the local community.”
Meanwhile in Exeter, two of five boxes lifted from the Morrisons supermarket in Prince Charles Road were intercepted by security.
The group claims the remaining three boxes were “successfully liberated and taken to a local food bank drop-off point”.
The action follows the arrest of 15 activists from the group earlier this month on suspicion of planning a mass shoplifting campaign.
Officers interrupted a meeting in on March 5 and arrested the members on suspicion of conspiracy to commit theft.
Group organisers claimed: “This won’t be the last of this sort of action.
“I think it’s necessary for ordinary people to be stepping into action given the scale of crisis our country faces.”
The group claims they were responsible for the stunt last December, which saw in the Tower of London.
They describe themselves as a nonviolent civil resistance group and demand that the UK government institute a citizen-led assembly with powers to tax the super-rich, “in order to fix Britain”.
A spokesperson for Take Back Power said: “It is sickening that 6.5 million people in the UK are forced to turn to food banks every year and a third of children under five are living in homes where there is insufficient access to nutritious food.
“This is because our country is in crisis, with billionaires hoarding wealth, whilst ordinary people suffer.
“We need to tax extreme wealth to fix Britain, and we need ordinary people to decide how.”
Take Back Power describe themselves as a nonviolent civil resistance groupCredit: PA
The group organised shoplifting in Manchester, London, Exeter and Truro on SaturdayCredit: PA
Eze Chidiebere Paul
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