accused of shoplifitng

MrKringle

First I will state I am NOT a shoplifter and never have been.Anyone who assumes I am or have or that I willingly abetted anyone doing such will not be responded too. I have seen to much trolling on the net and refuse to respond to it.

I am 50 years old and I suffer with severe asthma, I also have a undiagnosed heart problem whgich in the main is because I am such a heavy smoker and it is a genetic thing in the ales in my family, we all drop around the 55 year mark from heart attacks, I have been prescribed steroids by my doctor in the past for infections that have given my doctor concerns in that area. The reason for this information is relevant as I hope you will see shortly.

I was in Tescos stores newbury the other day Thursday this week at about 4pm to 6pm with a female partner, I hate shopping and it is my norm not to trawl around the store with her but to wander off and let her do it then catch up at the tills, and usually because of past embarasment at her having to put items back due to insufficient funds I sneak out to have a cigarette.

on this occasion however after a time wandering on my own I was informed that one of our children ( aspergers) had kicked of at her and she was very upset and telling me she wanted to leave the shop, I calmed her down and said I would stay with her so it did not occur again.

I saw nothing of my partner secrete anything.

After we left the tills and went to exit the shop a large number of staff and I do mean a large number suddenly swooped on us both and told me they wanted us to go back in the shop as they believed we had stolen items on us. I was genuinly in the belief that they were off their heads and being stupid and I was not about to be treated like some thief and abused, nor was I about to publicly humiliated over nothing, many of the villages here shop at this store and many at that time of the day. Believing I was correct and that we had done nothing wrong I refused to go back in the shop and carried on walking out telling my partner to come on and not to take any notice of them.

At this point a number of large store staff grabbed me and refused to let me go, I told them to let go of me as I had done nothing wrong and at this point I was getting very angry, I was then informed by one of them that I was under arrest and thrown to the ground and kneed in the side by him, I was pinned to the floor with one member of staff holding me by each arm and refusing to let me stand up, at that point I found out my partner then to my amazement had taken a game from the shop and I had not known it, the member of staff who I believe to be a manager then searched my pockets as I was trying to find my salbutemol inhalor and he was ranting about me being a thief and having stolen property in my pockets or such, and he took an item of my property from my pocket, namely a small circular magnet inside a steel case like a speaker magnet I had found and thought was a good item for my camera repairs ( I thought it would be handy for keeping small screws etc in one place when disassembling ).
I then started to have a serious asthma attack, I couldn't breathe and my chest was hurting as I was having sharp pains around it, someone called an ambulance, I repeatedly informed the staff I needed my inhalor which was in my pocket. One member of the staff who had my left arm was saying he knew how that felt as he had asthma and was trying as far as I could understand to tell me he would get it for me, it was in the same pocket the circular magnet was in, however the other person refused to let me have ot or to put my hands in my pockets to get it out, my partner was stood screaming at them that I had heart problems and that I needed my inhalor and was trying to get to me to get it out. The member of staff I think was a manager refused to let her help me and kept refusing to let the other staff get it for me, my partner who had also been thrown on the floor and kicked and hit by a male member of staff in front of our 2 small children managed to push him away and got to my pockets and found my inhalor, by this time I was desperate for breath and having a minor fit, the manager was telling me that I was a thief and a liar and he was not believing that I needed or had an inhalor, her was quitre loud and vocal about that fact in front of members of the public.

I eventualy got to stand up when i had used my inhalor and a doctor appeared and the staff were forced to let me up.

we were both marched through the shop and then placed in a back room whereupon the police turned up and took us to Newbury police station and we were lodged in cells for over 6 hours being released on bail untill 29th january.

Whilst in custody my partner was interviewed and shown CCTV footage of what she had done, and she admitted she had taken the game, but that I knew nothing of this and she had done it because we had no money in debt and on benefits and the kids had next to nothing for xmas. I saw what she had done at that point and why, and whilst I did not agree with it I understood and felt ashamed she had been pushed to that point.

I was also interviewed by the police and was informed that my wife had admitted this matter and that the store had been following her with CCTV cameras throughout and the police told me that someone had seen her with the box, and they had followeed her with cameras or such that they had zoomed in to the trolley seen the box with game then the box empty and that was when they decided to follow her in person or such, I was also told that whilst they had seen her do it they had not seen me interact in this or have any knowledge or otherwise in the matter.

In short they could not say I had had anything to do with what happened other than the fact I was with her shopping.

I will state right now that you can take this post at face value, I fully intend to proescute Tescos Newbury for what they did too me, or I perceive they illegaly and wrongly did to me. From what thepolice tell me it is as this.

They have seen my partner do something but the cameras and staff are aware I have done nothing, they then grab me accuse me of stealing and throw me on the floor, they refuse me my medication when having an asthma attack and verbally and physically abuse me. They commit an unlawfull arrest because from my understanding even if they are right in the fact that they can physically detain me they did not read me my rights as he told me he was arresting me, and in short they had NO reason to stop or detain me as I had done nothing and they knew this from their own footage and surveillance of us. I intend to sue them individually and as a store for not only the false imprisonment and any criminal acts they have done, ie the kneeing me in the chest when on the ground and the violent twisting of my arm above and behind my head whilst on the floor but also for breaching my human and or civil rights in that they denied me my inhalor when it was plain I needed it and any other matters I can.

The manager also tried to imply that I had the magnet for unlocking some security boxes or such which was plain stupid, again they have footage of our complete journey through the store and I plainly never used it for any nefarious purpose or even took it out of my pocket, I was also under the belief that those cases were electronicly opened by a gizmo at the end of the tills.

I would appreciate any help,ideas or advice you can give me in proceeding with just that, and how to get copies of all CCTV footage and statements etc given by their staff.

I rarely get online as I do not have a connection at home so if you think I have dissapeared I have not.

custardy

so your partner is a shoplifter and you want to take Tesco to court?

MrKringle

whatever my partner may have done does not make me collusive in the matter. Nor doesit give you or anyone else the right to insinuate that I have less rights than anyone else or am guilty of any offence I did not commit, nor does it give anyone the right to state I am a thief a shoplifter or otherwise involved anymore than it makes you a thief because you are with someone who does it without your knowledge. Do you consider you have less rights or are less innocent and a thief because a friend commits an offence without your knowledge whilst you are shopping with them.

I wonder how you would feel if you were treated like such because your kids pnched a packet of sweets of the counter, would you consider yourself a thief and a criminal and be happy to let the store abuse you. Of Course not, nor do i suspect would you beleive you have any less rights than any other innocent person, and am i going to sue Tescos for it, YES. I did nothing wrong, i was seen to not do any wrong, they had NO reason to insinuate I did or that I took part in the matter.

End of, like it or not.

custardy

MrKringle wrote: »

blah blah blah
End of, like it or not.

i must have missed the part where the forum only allowed replies you liked?
your partner isnt a kid? i assume at 50 you ont have a kid for a partner?
you were in a shop with a shoplifter,same as if it was a group of kids and one was shoplifting,do you think they wouldnt stop them all?
perhaps better focusing on getting your own house in order before going toe to toe with Tesco

caroline78

I feel I have to share my story here too. My partner is an alcoholic and due to this when I go to work I don't leave him any money, thinking if he doesn't have money then he can't drink. He tries so hard to stay sober but about once every six months he goes on a bender and would sell something to get money for drink.

Anyway about three months ago he stole a 12 pack of beer from our local Tesco. I was at work at the time and knew nothing about this until I got home and he wasn't he. He finally came home at about 6am the next morning and when sober told me this.

He was cautioned at the store and had to go to a police station within a few days. He eventually appeared in court and received £100 fine as the Judge understood that he is trying to fight an addiction. I think the fact that I recently had a miscarriage and that this may have caused the slip up also helped the Judge look kindly on us. He is also barred from the store, which is a big hindrance when we are going shopping as the next store is quite a bit further.

However, I fully understand why and so does he. He admitted to the crime the minute the security stopped him and said that they were quite quiet and discrete when stopping him. He didn't think that anyone really noticed what was going on when he was brought to the office.

Anyway my point is that I wouldn't make a fuss about this. Sorry to sound nasty but in my opinion your wife was in the wrong and whether you knew about this or not you were going to help her escape any consequences by walking on, so the security had to stop you.

jizzler

!!!!!!,doomer`s and idiots only !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

pendulum

MrKringle wrote: »

First I will state I am NOT a shoplifter and never have been.Anyone who assumes I am or have or that I willingly abetted anyone doing such will not be responded too. I have seen to much trolling on the net and refuse to respond to it.

Absolutely unbelievable.

Its bad enough you think you can come here and reel off a novel, but I'm amazed you chose to start it with a threat that if we voice an opinion that you don't like, we'll be ignored. Why would we care if you don't respond to us? Its you that's here for help, not us! :rolleyes:

I declined to read the rest of your post.

omen666

hilarious...................

ben500

The type of magnet you describe is used to remove instore security tags from alcohol and clothing by thieves, how out of interest do you employ it in photographic repairs?

I would hasten to add that I don't condone the "swarming" policy that Tesco employ when dealing with suspected shoplifters. It is quite alarming to witness I doubt far more alarming to experience. If you are genuinely a victim of this policy there are several individuals currently suing Tesco for such actions.

~Chameleon~

Is this a copy of your police statement as that's exactly what it sounds like! :rotfl:

Btw Mr Kringle, Newbury police also have a copy of your posts on this forum :rotfl:

Obi167

Why wait a nearly a year until deciding to take action on this?

I don't think you stand a chance - Is there any evidence? If CCTV was seized by police they will still have it, if not the store is unlikely to still have it unless they kept it to prove innocence. Did CCTV capture the assault on you? If so were you struggling or acting erratically, if so they have a right to restrain you for their own protection, how were they to know it wasn't a concealed weapon.

If you think the store may have the CCTV and you think it would be in your favour, a data protection request should get it at a cost of a tenner.

Were you injured? do you have proof of being injured? Did their actions have any long or short term health consequences besides your underlying condition? If not what are you suing them for, false imprisonment will not work as, just like you, the shop has a right to reasonable force to protect their property.

Just out of interest - was the (magnetically removable) security tag on the game removed? If so and your partner had no such device on her and I was the copper dealing with you - you would have been done with assisting in the commission of a crime or maybe going equipt.

As per your first line in your post - I am defiantly not assuming you are a shoplifter or that you willingly abetted anyone doing such. I am mearly asking for the facts.