I’m a shoplifter who stole £3million of goods and often grabbed a £2,000 haul every day – here’s how shops make it too easy for thieves like me to get away with it

An ex-shoplifter who claims he stole £3million worth of goods, often taking as much as £2,000 each day, reveals how shops make it too easy for thieves.

Cullan Mais, 32, said he stole items worth £14,000 every week and shoplifting was ‘harder to combat’ than his drug addiction.

He went to prison ten times – all for shoplifting – and served a total of three years, but in 2020 he managed to turn his life around after a near-death experience.

The reformed criminal said stores are making it too easy for shoplifters and advised them to take tougher measures to deter people.

Cullan, from Cardiff, suggested that retailers should use empty boxes when displaying high-value goods, avoid keeping spirits on the shop floor and place tills close to the exit. He added that they should be aware of blind spots and have security at all times – if they can.

In August 2020, Cullan was arrested for shoplifting and given a suspended sentence that pushed him to stay clean and straight.

Cullan, a podcaster who works for a charity helping people with drug addiction, said: ‘First of all, you’ll never completely stop shoplifting, but shops should always have tills at the door.

‘They should be much more aware of their blind spots and stop leaving valuables on the shop floor.

“Some stores have started using empty boxes for higher value goods; there should be more of these.

“If a store ever had security, I wouldn’t steal there. I would just go to a store that didn’t have it – so more stores should have security.

‘The main message I would like to say is: stop putting alcohol on the shop floor; if there is alcohol, it will be stolen.’

Cullan started using heroin when he was just 18 years old.

At the age of 22, he struggled to finance his addiction until he managed to get a car in 2010.

Cullan said: ‘The moment I got wheels is the moment I discovered shoplifting.

“This was next level, it made it so easy. You could just criticize the whole thing and make an escape.

‘I started with local shops.

‘In the beginning I asked people from my neighborhood what they wanted and then went downtown to steal clothes.

‘Then I started going to supermarkets and stealing food.

“You’d be surprised how many people were looking for cheap meat and cheese.”

“Co-op always had alcohol on the shop floor, so that quickly became my bread and butter.”

Cullan said it got to the point where he was ‘easily’ earning £2,000 a day, much of it from alcohol.

“The most I’ve ever stolen at one time without a bag was 19 bottles of liquor, without a bag.

‘It involved six bottles of expensive gin, four bottles of whiskey and a few bottles of Cîroc vodka, some champagne, Moet and Bollinger.

“I had on a Barber vest with chest pockets, normal pockets, and at the back there was a wide pocket where you could put stuff in.”

Cullan explained that there are two types of shoplifters, he said: “There are shoplifters who are smart, who are smart about it and the ones we call kamikaze – they swipe at it and walk out without really thinking,” he said.

‘I would replace the bottle area in the store so people wouldn’t become suspicious, and I would avoid the big stores for safety reasons.

“I didn’t care if I was going to be arrested in six months; all I was thinking about was getting drugs for the day.”

Cullan would also have a getaway driver for every trip he made.

“I split the money with the driver and traveled across the country to do it,” he said.

‘If I went to Manchester and worked in Cardiff I would steal from a different shop in each city along the way.

‘Then I might come to Birmingham with my car full of stolen goods.

‘I would go find a corner shop and ask if you want alcohol for a fraction of the price; 99 times out of 100 they would say yes.

‘Everyone loves a bargain.

‘By the time I got halfway to Cardiff I’d have at least a grand.

‘When I came back, I would go to local buyers.

“I was making thousands a day, but when you’re an addict, the more money you make, the more drugs you use.”

Cullan says everything changed after he was picked up by police in August 2020, at the age of 28, his tenth conviction for shoplifting.

A court date was set for him in October 2020, but shortly afterwards he was taken to hospital with pneumonia and sepsis after a decade of drug abuse caught up with him.

While in hospital, Cullan almost died, with doctors just managing to stabilize his condition.

He stayed in hospital for a month before being discharged and was given Buvidal – a new drug that helps people get off heroin and which he says is a ‘game changer’.

With his court date just two months away, Cullan vowed to stay clean forever.

When his sentencing date arrived at Cardiff Magistrates’ Court, Cullan was able to tell the court that he was clean and had made big changes in his life after his near-death experience with the prosecutor, saying they had made a real change in him had seen.

“They agreed to give me a second chance but didn’t give me any jail time,” Cullan said.

‘After that I slowly recovered from both my heroin and shoplifting addictions.

“In some ways, shoplifting was harder to combat than heroin.

‘Every day I still get people calling me asking if I have stuff in, it’s crazy.’

Cullan says he could make as much money as a drug dealer, but with a lower risk of long prison sentences.

“I didn’t take advantage of people either,” he said.

‘The way I saw it, I was stealing from big companies with millions of pounds in the bank.’

Cullan now works for Kaleidoscope – a charity that helps people suffering from drug addiction – and has a podcast where he talks about his past struggles, called ‘the Central Club’.

“Now I just want to focus on my charity work and making a real difference,” he said.