Shoplifters favour Queenstown's winter

The winter season - when Queenstown is at its busiest - is when shoplifting in the resort is at its worst, according to one of the retailers targeted by a group of Australian schoolboys last weekend.

Sixteen boys, aged 14 to 17 from the Catholic boys' school Xavier College in Melbourne, were caught during a $6000 shoplifting spree on Saturday after an R&R Sport staff member became suspicious of their behaviour and confronted them.

On returning to Melbourne on Sunday, the boys were met at the airport by school principal Dr Chris Hayes, who suspended them.

None of the youngsters were charged by police.

Outside Sports was also targeted, but general manager Liz Cox said the matter was sorted out with the teachers before they left on Sunday.

"We were fortunate to only have one item of clothing stolen from our shop by those boys. When it was returned, the teachers acted very respectfully and appropriately," she said.

She said all resort shops could expect some shoplifting.

"When many people are around, and some of them are short of cash, more shoplifting is likely - and in Queenstown that time is winter," Ms Cox said.

R&R Sport shop owner Mark Williams said all goods stolen from the shop were retrieved thanks to the action of staff - in particular Kate Long, who followed the boys when they left the shop and confronted them.

"It was all down to the fast action of the staff, who put their skills and training to good use by spotting the behaviour. When the boys were confronted [at] their bus, the teachers acted very professionally and immediately stepped in to pay for the goods," Mr Williams said.

It was a sad case for the school and the innocent members of the group, he said.

"The boys who were caught seemed very embarrassed. I do not pity them for any consequences, and they should be ashamed of themselves for bringing their group and their school in to disrespect," he said.

Kim Wilkinson, proprietor of Unichem Wilkinson's Pharmacy and a board member of the Queenstown Chamber of Commerce, said Queenstown was not particularly hard hit by shoplifting.

"Most of the shoplifting we see is individual, isolated cases. We do not have a lot of the 'professional' shoplifting seen in the larger centres, so it is rare to see a spree of thefts targeting several shops," he said.

The Chamber of Commerce encouraged members to take security seriously and consider installing CCTV cameras in their shops.

Sergeant Steve Watt, of Queenstown, said it appeared the Australian group had stolen goods from up to 15 mostly clothing and sports shops, although souvenir shops were also hit.

Most of the items were retrieved and returned to the shops.

The boys were not charged due to their age and the fact the goods had been returned or paid for, but Sgt Watt said the boys had been given an official warning.

"Whatever punishment we had been able to give them would probably be inconsequential to what they would get from their parents and the school," he said.

Their names and passport numbers had also been recorded by the police and "flagged" in case any of the boys got into trouble with the police in New Zealand in the future.