The trade body that works to reduce crime on petrol station forecourts, BOSS, the British Oil Security Syndicate, has welcomed support from Scotland’s Crown Office Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) in tackling incidents of forecourt crime that cost fuel retailers an estimated average of £3,000 per site every year.
COPFS has confirmed to BOSS that offences involving theft of fuel and the fraudulent obtaining of fuel are routinely investigated and reported by Police Scotland and have resulted in a range of prosecutorial actions being taken by prosecutors including the issuing of compensation offers and the raising of criminal court proceedings.
Kevin Eastwood, executive director at BOSS, said: “Forecourt crime continues to cause retailers significant financial losses, costing UK retailers more than £30m every year. BOSS crime fighting initiatives have recovered more than £2,700,000 on behalf of forecourt retailers. The work we’ve been doing with the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service and Police Scotland has helped us to improve the way forecourt retailers report incidents and allow the authorities to deal with incidents efficiently.
“So far this year BOSS members have received over £12,000 in compensation awards from court cases, however, compensation isn’t always awarded, especially if a custodial sentence is imposed.”
