Shop workers have lost eyes, suffered miscarriages and been forced to move out of their homes because of dangerous shoplifters, peers have been told.
Paul Gerrard, from the Co-Op, described the sickening violence staff face from organised gangs. He told Lords investigating how the shoplifting epidemic can be tackled: “If one of my colleagues gets in the way, they won’t say sorry and walk out.
“There will be assault, there will be a violent threat, there might be a knife, there might be a syringe. I’ve had a colleague attacked with a medieval mace, we’ve had colleagues lose their eye, I’ve had colleagues miscarry.
“There’s a level of violence, abuse and threat that nobody who works in retail has ever seen before.” And he added that the company has had to move workers out of their homes because of the threats they face.
Mr Gerrard said: “We have had to move colleagues from the home because they have been followed from the store to the home and threatened at their home. These are people who during the pandemic, when we were all told to stay at home to keep safe, were in those stores making sure people could buy food and water, and they are being followed home and threatened.”
Mr Gerrard added: “The idea that my colleagues are facing this is just remarkable.” The British Retail Consortium (BRC) estimates there are around 1,300 assaults on shop workers every day.
Mr Gerrard said: “Every day hundreds of my colleagues are abused and threatened… We will do whatever we need to do to keep colleagues safe because stock can be replaced, but colleagues can’t.” And he told members of the Justice and Home Affairs Committee that in the first quarter of last year, police didn’t attend in 70% of cases – although this has improved.
And even when a suspect was detained by staff, officers didn’t come along in eight out of 10 instances – meaning they’ve had to be set free. On one occassion a member of staff was told to call the non-emergency 111 number after an armed robbery, he said.
Lord Foster of Bath said: “Clearly that’s very disturbing.” He said committee members were “horrified” by what they’d heard.
Earlier this year the former Government finally announced it was creating a specific response of assaulting a retail worker, having opposed new legislation. But this wasn’t implemented because Rishi Sunak called a General Election.
But Labour has pledged to bring the offence forward as part of its upcoming Crime and Policing Bill. It will also close a Tory loophole that means thefts of goods worth under £200 are less likely to result in prosecution. This is a victory for The Mirror, which has campaigned for laws downgrading the theft of goods below this sum to be undone.
Paddy Lillis. general secretary of trade union Usdaw – which represents retail staff, previously told The Mirror: “After 14 years of Tory austerity, chaos and incompetence there is a lot to do.” He said the “perverse” £200 threshold for prosecuting shoplifters “effectively became an open invitation to retail criminals”.