Legal loophole closed to prosecute persistent fuel thieves But now the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) is issuing new legal guidelines to police and prosecutors advising them to bring criminal charges against repeat offenders. The loophole arose because in order to charge someone with theft, the prosecutor would need to show dishonesty at the time the offence occurred. If the motorist held their hands up and admitted what they have done, but promised to settle up later, it was considered to be an honest mistake. Even if they could be tracked later, prosecutors would be unable to bring charges, because it was difficult to prove dishonesty retrospectively. Under the new guidelines prosecutions will now be recommended where a motorist can be shown to have repeatedly filled up without having any means of payment. Motorists who leave false details with the garage will also be brought to justice. Prosecutors are at pains to stress the legal shake-up is about pursuing repeat offenders, rather than those who make an honest mistake at the pump. Manjula Nayee, Senior Policy Advisor at CPS said: "If an individual has made a genuine error in filling up with fuel without having the means to pay, it is standard industry practice to allow drivers to sign a form to acknowledge their debt and agree to pay it back. But unfortunately there are a number of dishonest individuals who repeatedly abuse this system, signing forms at different petrol stations and never paying what they owe. Police will now be expected to prosecute repeat offenders with the offence of theft or fraud, using CCTV footage, number plate records and fingerprint evidence. A spokesman for the CPS said: "Drivers who think they can repeatedly abuse the system designed to help honest people who make genuine errors should be warned - they can and will be tracked down and brought to justice." Brian Madderson of the Petrol Retailers" Association welcomed the move which he said would hopefully deter those intent on taking fuel with no intention of paying for it. He said: "We have seen a significant rise in the number of these cases but the retailers have only been able to pursue offenders through the civil courts. In many cases it would just not be worth it to recover a tank of fuel worth £70 or £80. We have seen cases where some motorists will do the same thing at 10 garages in a region, so hopefully this change will help stop that happening.