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Plain-clothes officer chases prolific M&S shoplifter through Tunbridge Wells before she flees in an Audi

From the Newshound archive · first published 2 October 2026 · last updated 3 October 2026.

CCTV footage of Andrea Berquez fleeing through a car park at M&S in Tunbridge Wells — shoplifting offences in England and Wales more than doubled in five years to 530,457 in 2024-25, yet just 19.8 per cent led to a…
CCTV footage of Andrea Berquez fleeing through a car park at M&S in Tunbridge Wells — shoplifting offences in England and Wales more than doubled in five years to 530,457 in 2024-25, yet just 19.8 per cent led to a…

Andrea Berquez, 41, of Tonbridge, was caught on CCTV grabbing fruit and vegetables from an M&S in Tunbridge Wells on May 15 and bolting to a parked Audi. A plain-clothes Kent Police officer tried to stop her twice — once on foot, once as she drove off — before patrol vehicles tracked her down and forced her out of the car.

Berquez had been charged with five counts of shop theft between April 25 and May 15, making her a repeat offender well known to police.

She pleaded guilty and was sentenced at Maidstone Magistrates' Court on September 14 to a two-year conditional discharge — no jail time.

Bodycam footage captured the arresting officer yelling 'Get out of the car' as Berquez was finally stopped in a nearby village.

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