Store managers are finding themselves facing criminal charges as they tackle a soaring epidemic of shop crime across the UK.
Iceland founder Malcolm Walker revealed this week that a store manager at one of the chain’s London branches is on bail and facing potential prosecution after detaining an alleged shoplifter. Walker said it was not an isolated incident – criminals are becoming increasingly aware of their rights when they are detained in stores.
Walker said the store manager in question was arrested after he detained a shoplifter who attacked him as he was escorting her off the premises. When the police arrived, she accused him of assault. The solution offered by the police was “she will drop her charges if you drop yours”. The manager refused and both parties were arrested. The store manager was put into a cell, charged and then bailed.
Walker said this “tidal wave” of crime was costing his business millions. He said: “It happens again and again, every day. It costs us thousands of man hours.”
Walker’s revelation comes just days after two security guards at Nike Town in Oxford Circus were stabbed at the weekend while chasing a teenage gang of suspected shoplifters.
On Tuesday, Shadow Home Secretary Dominic Grieve hosted a seminar at Conservative Central Office in London to discuss what action needs to be taken to improve the police’s response to business crime.
Speaking to Retail Week, Grieve said the Government had to take the problem of retail crime more seriously. “It’s difficult to comment on individual cases, but it’s an issue that has caused some anxiety to me. It’s absolutely essential that a member of the public who lawfully detains a criminal should be supported,” he said.
“I feel very strongly it [retail crime] is an area we should be focusing on much more. Retail business is a mirror of, and central to, the prosperity of an area.”
The Co-operative Group head of operational risk Phil Willsmer said: “The police have far too many targets to achieve. That’s a real problem. There needs to be a re-prioritising of the targets and business crime should be further up their agenda. They don’t have any targets on business crime.”
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