Please Advise: Wrongly accused of THEFT in Halfords!

trisontana

Hermia wrote:

I work in a library and we have two security guards which are very definitely needed! Friends who have not been in a library for years can't believe it when I tell them we have security guards!

Our library has special blue lights in the toilets to stop drug users from being able to see their veins when they want to inject themselves. And there is a security guard !

zappomatic

executiverocker wrote:

i work in an argos that doesnt have a security guard. and boy do we need one. Every other store around seems to have a guard so they all seem to come to us! it can be real scary from time to time

I'm guessing as Argos tends to have very little stock actually out that could be stolen, you need them for agressive or abusive people? That does sound like an unpleasent situation. I spent nearly 5 years in retail and although had the odd snotty and rude customer, was lucky enough never to experience threats or violence. It's not fair that people just doing their job are sometimes subjected to that sort of thing.

black-saturn

I honestly cant believe what the world is coming to.

executiverocker

zappomatic wrote:

I'm guessing as Argos tends to have very little stock actually out that could be stolen, you need them for agressive or abusive people? That does sound like an unpleasent situation. I spent nearly 5 years in retail and although had the odd snotty and rude customer, was lucky enough never to experience threats or violence. It's not fair that people just doing their job are sometimes subjected to that sort of thing.

in our store we have a lot of stock out thats ex clearance or just latest promotions. we do seem to get a lot of aggressive people on customer services. The amount of times ive been abused is staggering. Few weeks back a guy waited outside for the girl who refused him for a refund to finish and threatened her. The manager ran out and the guy ran off.

We have a regular thief in who before now has actually got behind the collection counter and then wouldnt move! He left the shop in the end, but its the case that if we did anything, or touched him etc we would be in the blame! Its scary

trisontana

I work in an Oxfam bookshop and we have had several things stolen, including a very valuable book (£80) from inside a glass cabinet and a box of fair-trade chocolates. Someone even broke into the shed where we keep the old, tatty books that are awaiting disposal. We have now put a lock on the glass cabinet.

SkippyB

Just a quick couple of bits for you and chucking in my two'penneth worth!

the Theft Act of 1968,theft is defined a person has commited it if they "Dishonestly appropriate propert belonging to another with the intention to permanently deprive".All the elements of the elements of this definition have to be proven before a lawful stop (or arrest)can be made

The above is not strictly true....a person only needs to have 'reasonable suspicion' that all 5 elements have been satisfied before a lawful search or arrest is made

I think the law re arrest can be found in the Police and criminal evidence Act-P.A.C.E. i think it says ANY person can arrest without warrant anyone he believes... to have commited an arrestable offence.(Theft is deemed an "arrestable offence" in Law")But as allready state,the definitions of theft have to be proven for the power of arrest to be legal.

The Police and Criminal Evidence act has under gone a massive change and the Law now refers to indictable and non indictable offences. It is now a minefield and it is better to shy away from a Citizens Arrest on anything as the law is now so complicated that if you don't know what you are doing, you could find yourself being arrested for assault.

This is technically a false arrest.The average going rate for this is about £6,000 compensation,and iwould say you are definitely entitled to somethingThe definition of arrest is a taking or restraining a person from his libertyI

I think that this may be a little OTT. The OP states that he was asked/tell to empty his pockets...Not forced to or physically restrained. If the OP has given consent albeit possibly because he was shocked by the accusation then there is no false 'arrest'. I would suggest that this is more a case for the store management to deal with than for suing somebody.

Isn't it a rule that they must wait until customers try to leave before accusing them of anything? I mean, even if someone did put something in their pocket accidentally (which I definitely did not), they may still pay for it.

Not totally true. There are other offences such as Going Equipped and Attempted Theft.

My view is that you should apporach the store and advise them of what has occured and ask them to investigate the occurence and what led to you being suspected of shoplifting. If at the end of that, you are still not satisfied then seek proper legal advice.

If you try and sue them straight away for false arrest, you may find that there was a perfectly legimate reason for the security guards actions and the courts wont look very kindly on what they may see as a way of making a quick quid. They will then sting you for costs and you may be heavily out of pocket.

I can only imagine that you must be distressed and angry by what has happened but would urge you to deal with this calmly and with a clear head. It is not a nice situation to have been put in at all.

Hope this helps....

hollydays

Do you work for Halfords skippy?

I find this post very concerning.In simple terms,if you went to the Citizens advice bureau,with this,they would advise you to take on a solicitor.Companies willl try and wriggle out if you approach them direct,with other than the most cursory info.Sales staff have a tough job at times-their company wont bother to properly train them(however,this IS is a huge subject to absorb,so the task is impossible really) but their is never any excuse for humiliation.
You wrongly stated ..needs reasonable suspicion before a lawful search is made--you are perpetuating the myth-Civilians-or citizens if you like have NO power of search-this only applies to Police.

Why mention going equipped etc-what relevance has this got-its just confusing.(skippy no-one has suggested the OP eg has gone in with a pair of pliers to remove tags-going equipped).
.We still dont know exactly what the OP said,as they havent yet replied re the arrest,this is why i asked specific questions.

Why on earth try to dissuade the OP "the courts wont look very kindly"-what the heck is that about?!!-if you dont answer any other points I would like a reply to that ,please.

A case handled by a solicitor is all done by letter ,suing i suppose,what have the criminal law courts got to do with it?no-one is suggesting taken the assistant to court for false arrest.That is not how it is done.I had tried to keep the info simple-I am very keen that the wrong info re SEARCH in particular, is not constantly churned out

.Another reason a number of people get wrongly stopped,searched and humiliated every day in stores(then are too fearful to complain,)is because of perpetuation of "you can stop someone on "reasonable suspicion" and untrained people think this gives them the right in law to stop someone when theyve "got a feeling" rather than from firm hard evidence and facts.

What a lay person interprets from the words "reasonable suspicion" how it is interpreted in law is completely different things.Its all in the interpretation.Oh god,i feel an arguament coming on.All i want is for the correct info to be posted on this forum.Keep it simple!

stugib

hollydays wrote:

Do you work for Halfords skippy?

Unfortunately I haven't got time to get involved in this discussion today, but for god's sake can we stop this kind of mindless response. It's my absolute pet hate on this forum.

Just because someone has a different interpretation to the situation than you does NOT mean they are on the other party's side or are some sort of mole trawling these boards to defend the company. It's really a pathetic level of argument. Why do you think he works for Halfords, or even think it's worth asking him if he does? It's irrelevant.

FWIW, in the OP I could see no description of being detained, or being arrested. At the very most it was some sort of defamation if anyone else heard the accusation. If the OP refused to empty his pockets (as he was entitled) and was then stopped from leaving, or the staff member tried to empty them for him, then that's a different matter and brings unlawful arrest, detained against their will, and assault into the equation. But it didn't happen!

Your response to pretty much every problem is 'sue em' and 'claim compensation'. That was Skippy's point about the court action - courts generally want to see that efforts were made to resolve situations amicably and the action is proportionate to the situation. He's just advocating a more proportionate and measured response than you are. He's also right that the laws on citizens arrests have changed recently.

andydixon

You will need to be clear on two areas. There is nothing to stop an employee from asking you to empty your pockets just like there is nothing to stop you refusing. They cannot force you to do so unlike a Police Office following an arrest. Secondly Did they physically stop you from leaving i.e. did they lay a hand on you. If not, no form of arrest took place. You may only be looking at a form of slander

hollydays

Stugib,i agree with some of what you have said.

My response to many problems is actually sue em if thats what you want to do.I feel that persons reply was designed to put the person off from consulting a solicitor,and my comment reflected this,perhaps too flippant ,and i apologise for that.

I agree with you about what courts want-balance-also what the retailer wants is - to get off scot free- there needs to me more balance.If you are saying the change in law allows civilians to search now-I stand corrected.

I am not pro litigation I am For Standing Up for Yourself.

I disagree with the comments made re definition of an arrest-but i could be wrong-i dont have time to trawl law or look for stated cases-Hope the Op gets the resolution she wants.I feel very strongly about these issues because retailers are not putting the resources into trying to stop these things happening-when they happen they just try to bury them as quick as poss-thats not fair.Hope Halfords is different,or can be persuaded to be.