Research by retail consultants Global Retail Theft Barometer and Checkpoint Systems has suggested a new wave of middle-class shoplifter is targeting high-end delicacies from supermarkets in order to maintain a lifestyle they could no longer afford. These are people who appear to be reputable and often justify their actions by arguing that they have become victims to the economic recession.

But in most cases of stealing by what psychologists describe as "non-professional shoplifters" – those who don't steal for profit or resale, or to feed a drug or alcohol addiction – there is much more going on.