Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Home Affairs Committee calls for new criminal offence to deal with crime against retail store workers

Home Affairs Committee calls for new criminal offence to deal with crime against retail store workers

CRIME against retail store workers should be “treated with the same seriousness as those on police and other emergency workers”, Home Affairs Committee said on Tuesday (29), seeking a new standalone criminal offence to protect retail workers from violence and abuse in England and Wales.

“Other public workers have rightly been afforded extra protection by the law in recognition of the public service they provide and the increased risks they face, and a standalone offence for assault on emergency workers has produced promising early results in increasing prosecutions,” Home Affairs Committee chair, Yvette Cooper, said.


“Violence and abuse towards shop workers must be treated with the same seriousness and those workers must be afforded similar protection in law,” said the Labour MP, adding that it is “completely unacceptable that these attacks have become so commonplace in our society”.

Cooper also said “shameful” figures showed that abuse and assaults against retailers had increased during the pandemic, at a time when they were the “lifeblood of communities”.

Violence against retail employees has reportedly escalated over the past five years, increasing further through the pandemic, a time during which both small and larger firms have reported extensive verbal and physical abuse.

Citing a survey by Association of Convenience Stores (ACS), which says that only one in five who reported incidents "were satisfied with the response from the police", the committee said that the assault on retail workers is "becoming endemic in British society”, and the police response is failing to match the scale of the problem.

Research by ACS also found that 89 per cent of individuals working in local shops had experienced some form of abuse, while the British Retail Consortium says that the number of violent incidents or abuse against shop workers has risen in past few years.

The National Federation of Retail Newsagents told the inquiry that they thought a "strong police response" to simple shop theft "might serve to stop future, more serious incidents, but it is here that the police response is weakest".

Supermarkets Morrisons and Sainsbury's also told MPs their staff had been threatened with knives, firearms and even syringes. Marks and Spencer added that local police have "struggled to respond to reports of assaults" in their shops due to which colleagues have become less inclined to report assaults to the police, as they believe that there is “no point” when it is likely no action will follow.

Amit Puntambekar, 28, a retail store owner, told BBC that the police view crime against retail worker inside a store as a “soft crime” because when a theft happens there is no penalty to the state or the government, adding “we will end up paying the liability for it”.

More For You

Police Recover £1M Stolen Jewellery in Hounslow, Owners Sought

The jewellery was largely taken from London’s South Asian community in Hounslow between 2023 and 2024. (Photo: Met Police)

Stolen jewellery worth £1m recovered in Hounslow, police seek owners

POLICE are seeking to reunite stolen jewellery worth over £1 million with its rightful owners after recovering the items during a proactive operation across London and the home counties.

The recovered collection includes identifiable pieces such as a World War One officer’s Rolex watch, a gold locket containing old pictures, an engraved gold ring, and an engraved gold pocket watch from Harlow Bros Ltd.

Keep ReadingShow less
british-muslims

The initiative aims to track incidents, raise awareness of hate crime, and provide better victim support.

iStock)

Government announces fund to combat anti-Muslim hate

THE UK government has announced a new fund to monitor anti-Muslim hate and support victims, with applications opening on 7 April.

The initiative aims to track incidents, raise awareness of hate crime, and provide better victim support.

Keep ReadingShow less
Probe launched over racist broadcast at Kent asylum centre

FILE PHOTO: Entrance of Manston short-term holding centre for migrants, near Ramsgate in southeast England. (Photo by BEN STANSALL/AFP via Getty Images)

Probe launched over racist broadcast at Kent asylum centre

AUTHORITIES have launched an investigation following reports that a racist message was broadcast over portable radios at an asylum processing centre in Kent.

The incident occurred at the Manston site, where small boat arrivals are processed by the Home Office and its contractor, Mitie, reported The Guardian.

Keep ReadingShow less
Protest against dog crackdown ahead of Modi's Sri Lanka visit

Sri Lankan animal rights activists take part in a demonstration in Colombo on April 3, 2025, to protest the round-up of stray dogs a day ahead of a visit by Narendra Modi. (Photo by ISHARA S. KODIKARA/AFP via Getty Images)

Protest against dog crackdown ahead of Modi's Sri Lanka visit

SRI LANKAN animal rights activists marched on Thursday (3) to protest the round-up of stray dogs a day ahead of a visit by Indian prime minister Narendra Modi.

Authorities in Colombo and the Buddhist pilgrim city of Anuradhapura have reportedly deployed dog catchers to impound hounds ahead of Modi's visit, which begins on Friday (4).

Keep ReadingShow less
modi-trump-getty

Donald Trump and Narendra Modi hold a joint press conference in the East Room at the White House on February 13, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Photo: Getty Images)

Getty Images

Explained: Impact of US tariffs on Indian exports

The United States has announced a 27 per cent reciprocal tariff on Indian goods entering the American market.

Industry experts have said these duties will pose challenges for Indian exports, though India's position remains more favourable than some of its competitors.

Keep ReadingShow less