SHOPLIFTERS in Newport have posed a "real challenge" for police in recent months, according to a senior officer.

Chief superintendent Carl Williams said Gwent Police had recorded "notable successes" in cracking down on retail thefts in the city centre "over the past couple of months".

Those operations included detaining at least three people suspected of committing multiple shoplifting offences.

But Ch Sup Williams also said shopkeepers had to take "responsibility" for the security of their own stores to "deter" thieves from striking.

"One of our biggest challenges - especially around shoplifting - is that corporate responsibility," he told Newport councillors this week.

"Not all retail premises in the area - and this isn’t something that is special to Newport - help themselves around security to deter thefts in all respects."

He cited three recent detentions of people suspected of multiple shoplifting offences.

"We’ve had one individual, for example, dealt with [for] 11 offences [including] two creeper burglaries, and that individual’s on remand," he said.

"[There's] one individual dealt with for nine offences and remand was being sought this morning for that individual.

"Another individual for six offences, who’s now on remand as well."

Ch Sup Williams, who is the local policing commander for Newport and Monmouthshire, also noted the recent case of a city shoplifter who targeted high-street chain Boots.

Described in court as a drug addict with a "vast" list of criminal convictions going back a quarter of a century, Shujer Hussain, 42, was before Newport Magistrates’ Court recently for shoplifting make-up and shampoo worth nearly £275 from Boots and Superdrug last December.

Ch Sup Williams also said the Gwent force had generally earned some "real successes around community orders, rehabilitation orders, and other orders to try and prevent further offending".

He also suggested crime was on its way down.

"In the city centre we’ve had a hugely improved picture in terms of bringing offenders to justice," he told councillors.

He added: "Overall crime is in a downward trend since August 2022, when we saw 1,900 crimes for the months across Newport county, down to around 1,400 crimes in February, and they’ve been decreasing month on month."