Wrongly Accused Shoplifting In Tesco - Help

Tom125

To add my opinion, I have some sympathy for the OP; although I would have probably shown the security guard the receipt - assuming they were polite about it. However, I would not have let them search my bag under any circumstances. I would have insisted that if they want to see inside my bag, they should call the Police - and let them do it.

In my local Tesco stores, the security guards are frequently very rude indeed- especially to younger people. I can therefore see that (were this the case), I would not be that happy to co-operate.

Personally, I think in this case the security guards were in the wrong. Before they started to stop / accuse someone, they should have ensured that they had actually seen the OP take the items off the shelf (not difficult considering the amount of CCTV coverage in Tesco stores). Just seeing someone put a Tesco bag in a rucksack is not good enough.

Contrary to what some posters have said, innocent shoppers do have rights, even in Tesco stores.

mightymole

sinw wrote: »

Hi, any advice would be appretiated...

Today at 11am i went to purchase some magazines from Tesco - i paid, and then thought i would like to go and look at some yougurts. So i toddled off and at the yougurt isle the mags were getting heavy and starining the cheap t plastic bag' so i put them in my rucksack.

Anyhow out of the door i was stopped by security n asked if they cud look in ma bag, i refused and they asked for reciept, i refused. I told them to go n ask the checkout girl who served me (i know her from shopping there regular), anyhow the guys surrounding me in the corner of the cs said they wont to protect them??? then one manager said why dont we just ban him, i asked them if why they wanna look in ma bag are they accusing me of stealing? They said no they were not, i said well why do u want look in ma bag? They said as someone reported me putting stuff in ma bag in the store, so i said u must be accusing me of something then? I took them ova to the checkout girl and the had put up wiv a barage of staff shouting just show them ur reciept.

I would not show them unless police were presant as i think i may have rights, but dont know as i never been stopped before. Eventually the Police arrived and cautioned me, looked through ma bag n only found what i had paid for (obviously) anyhow they let me go after being searched and id checked i have a stop form with grounds say - identifieds as possible offender in shoplifting then says negative result.

Anyhow i extremly upset and angry with my treatment in TESCO and wonder what i can do? I phoned CS who gave me a case number to write a letter of complaint.....

any thoughts??

as you refused to show your receipt which would've taken less than a minuete i feel as a retired security supervisor you could've avoided the police being call.

as you failed to show your receipt the security staff had no chpice but to asume you had something to hid when you didn't.

so it is better to cooperate

oldone_2

eyeinthesky wrote: »

Try reading your links again, from your first one:
.

Try reading my post correctly. I said that making a citizens arrest 'could then lead you to being accused of assault or even kidnapping', I then provided a link to show where this happened.The fact that the judge in this case found that they had used reasonable force is irrelevant They still had to endure six months of hell.

Please note that the police also said they were not happy with members of the public making citizens arrests.

redrabbit29

oldone wrote: »

Try reading my post correctly. I said that making a citizens arrest 'could then lead you to being accused of assault or even kidnapping', I then provided a link to show where this happened.The fact that the judge in this case found that they had used reasonable force is irrelevant They still had to endure six months of hell.

Please note that the police also said they were not happy with members of the public making citizens arrests.

Citizens arrest is one of those things ... Any member-of-the-public is entitled to use reasonable force to detain someone if a certain type of offence has been comitted (e.g. theft).

However, the Police will rightly warn you about this. Partly due to safety and the repurcussions. Safety wise, a member-of-the-public has no help or support, no safety equipment at all. As you note they are left wide open to accusations, which the Police face all the time although get around it as there is normally more than one officer there.

Best thing, I think, would be to follow at a distance rather than physically get involved.

eyeinthesky

oldone wrote: »

Try reading my post correctly. I said that making a citizens arrest 'could then lead you to being accused of assault or even kidnapping', I then provided a link to show where this happened.The fact that the judge in this case found that they had used reasonable force is irrelevant They still had to endure six months of hell.

Please note that the police also said they were not happy with members of the public making citizens arrests.

Ok, I take your point as proven, but it is still a little way off what happened with the OP. From your posted link, the citizens making the arrest were a chip shop owner and his son, who saw the alleged offender in the street, so not at the time or location the offence took place. Now, whilst security guards are "members of the public", they also have training in arrest procedures, which I think it is safe to say that chip shop owners do not.

I was merely presenting an alternative view, i.e., from the perspective of a security guard, who is employed to prevent losses from theft, which we all pay for in the end due to higher prices.

Believe it or not, I do have some sympathy with the OP. It can't have been pleasant to be stopped and asked for the receipt, as this seems to infer that he was suspected of being dishonest. Of course, we can't know what the security guards knew, or thought they knew. They may have reviewed the cctv and seen the OP putting items in his rucksack, but not had sufficient time to track all his movements while in the store. Even with today's digital cctv systems, it takes some time to review each camera that would have "seen" the OP. Personally, I would not have made the stop with the information given on this thread, I would not consider it "safe", and no arrest would have taken place. As I stated in an earlier post, I would only stop if I was 100% positive that the person had committed a theft, and was still in possession of the goods.

Security guards are only human, and sometimes make errors of judgement. They are also susceptible to pressure from employers to "catch more thieves" when stocktaking has shown an increase in stockloss. They are only trying to do their job the best they can, so if asked for a receipt, why not show it and be on your way within seconds?

As for the arrests, my colleagues and I work closely with police and they are more than happy with any arrests we have made. We always call them, usually via our townlink radio system, and they will attend to identify the offender and issue penalty notices or arrest and detain as appropriate. We provide photo and video evidence, and use statement forms that are almost identical to their official ones. During the last 5 1/2 years, we have not made a single wrongful arrest.

tiamai_d

What a larf. I wonder if OP is a certain person I know from college??? Sounds like the stupid stunt he'd pull... but then again, OP said he had never been in trouble with the police whereas this other person is up on drug charges.... :rolleyes:

peachyprice

DCFC79 wrote: »

Has the OP replied recently

Nah, he's still too busy cutting out all the coupons

garthdp

I cant believe I have just wasted half an hour of my life reading all the posts in this thread.Can I sue Tescos.Any thoughts?????

Swans1912

garthdp wrote: »

I cant believe I have just wasted half an hour of my life reading all the posts in this thread.Can I sue Tescos.Any thoughts?????

me too, i'm never gonna get those 30mins of my life back.

gomer

Well i didn't bother reading it so you can buy 30 minutes of my life if you like but i'm afraid i'm going to have to see your reciept first. I take it you do have a reciept? LOL :rotfl: