00:00My name's Keely, Keely Knowles. I have been known as Birmingham's most prolific shoplifter for
00:07probably the last 20 years. Obviously all stemming from heroin addiction. I was on drugs for 29
00:16years. It all started when I was 13 and you know, wrong person. So I was 13, I met a 21-year-old man
00:27that I thought was amazing. Traveled to Liverpool two, three times a week and pick up kilos of
00:35heroin crack. It took me like £300 to get out of bed and then I'd score again in the middle of the
00:42day, well evening, about another £400 and then I'd spend like another £300-£400 at night time. So
00:50if I didn't have £1,000 a day, not happy. I just came to the conclusion that instead of going into
00:57the local supermarket and taking a basket of Nescafe, I could go into an upmarket store and
01:04take a rock of handbags or purses. I had a WhatsApp group that had about 150 people on it. I would
01:13normally come out of the shop, take photos of the stuff on the train on the way back or
01:19on the bus if I was coming from town. But before I'd even got halfway home, it'd be sold. Money
01:25would either go in my bank or I'd go and drop it off and collect the money. So I knew when people's
01:30paydays were, I knew what size people's kids were, what people's favourite designer was.
01:36People think that only gangs are organised crime and it's not right because I'd get up in the morning
01:42and some days I'd ring around different stores and I'd say, good morning, it's PC2417. I'm calling
01:51about the theft on Tuesday. There's always a theft. It's a big store. And then you would
01:55always get some really lovely woman that answered the phone somewhere that would say, there's
02:00no security today. And I'd say, oh, well, could you tell me when they're back in? Oh, well,
02:05they're not in on Monday, Thursday and Friday and they're after 11 on this day. I'd write
02:10all that down. I used to wear a long Michael Kors sleeping bag coat. I sliced it inside and
02:19I would just feel it like from the floor right under my armpits. There's been times where
02:24I've walked out, the alarm's gone off. I've had a handbag, let them look inside and then
02:30just walked out. I got arrested and went to prison around once a year. Now, if you think
02:35to make £1,000, you've got to steal a lot of stuff a day. So some days I'd make more
02:42than that. Some days I'd steal £7,000, £8,000 worth of stock. That's, say, close to £300
02:47worth of stock a year. And I got caught for what? Five. I used to justify it to myself as
02:53I'm not hurting anybody. Since then, I've actually learnt that shoplifting really isn't a victimless
02:59crime. In two and a half years, I took £3.5 million worth of stock from there.
03:05The loss prevention magazine have estimated it at around £30 million. But you know what?
03:12If you're estimating that from me going in one shop a day, I promise you it's more than
03:17that. Literally, every time you walk out the door, when you're stealing to feed a habit,
03:22it's fear. There is no rush. It's just, it's what you have to do. And I had a choice. People,
03:31you know, people sell their bodies. People lose their kids. I chose that shoplifting was
03:36going to be what I did because it was a step above the things that I didn't want to do.
03:41I've been to jail 28 times here, three times in Amsterdam. I was settled with, I was going
03:47to die a junkie. I was either going to OD or I would be that old woman that you see that
03:52still takes drugs. Hitting this same shop over and over again, the same one that said three
03:57and a half mil. And there's the security guard that works there. And without me knowing, he
04:02went and referred me and got me listed for help with the offending to recovery team.
04:10And they gave me a phone number and I'd love to say I had a big epiphany. But I just found
04:15it in a drawer one day and thought, I'll ring him and see what happens.
04:19Okay.
04:20He said to me, oh, 24 hours, you'll feel fine. 10 days, I swam in my own vomit, hallucinated,
04:27seizures. It was horrific. And I did it on Hagley Road, where I could hit the
04:32the dealers outside. That night, I slept like a normal human being. I woke up in the morning.
04:40I felt like I, I can't even say like I felt before I was on the gear. I mean, no cravings,
04:46no nothing. It's, it's amazing. You might think it's really cool because you've got an older
04:52boyfriend. There's something wrong with him. If he's attracted to you as a child, there's
04:57something wrong with him. And to be fair, there will be people telling you that it's
05:03wrong. Listen, pay attention to it because if everybody else can see it and you can't,
05:09maybe you're the one that's being blind. I was unfixable. So if there's somebody that
05:16you know, or it's you or somebody that you think needs help, it doesn't matter how long
05:22they've been on drugs, it doesn't matter how low they've got. If I can be fixed, anybody
05:28can be fixed.
05:29If I can be fixed.
05:30If I can be fixed.
05:31If I can be fixed.
05:32If I can be fixed.
05:33If I can be fixed.
05:34If I can be fixed.
05:35If I can be fixed.
05:36If I can be fixed.
05:37If I can be fixed.
05:38If I can be fixed.
05:39If I can be fixed.
05:40If I can be fixed.
05:41If I can be fixed.
05:42If I can be fixed.
05:43If I can be fixed.
05:44If I can be fixed.
05:45If I can be fixed.
05:46If I can be fixed.
05:47If I can be fixed.
05:48If I can be fixed.
05:49If I can be fixed.
05:50If I can be fixed.
05:51If I can be fixed.
05:52If I can be fixed.
05:53If I can be fixed.
05:54If I can be fixed.
05:55If I can be fixed.
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