Police apology over Gainsborough Tesco theft accusation

[charitynjw]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england...shire-25182301

"Police have apologised to a man they falsely accused of shoplifting from his local Tesco store.
A CCTV picture of Daniel Dand-Hansis was posted on a Lincolnshire Police Facebook page stating they wished to speak to him about a theft.
The image was posted despite the Gainsborough store's CCTV footage showing him paying before leaving.
Mr Dand-Hansis said a colleague later took him aside at work and asked him if he had "been stealing from Tesco".
He said he had been left shocked and upset by the affair.

"I went in about 12:30 to pick up some daily items, paid and left the store and went to work.
"A couple of hours later a colleague took me aside to ask if I had been stealing from Tesco."
Mr Daniel Dand-Hansis went to Gainsborough police station to discuss what had happened.
He watched the CCTV back with a police officer, when the mistake was revealed.
In a statement Lincolnshire Police said: "We are sorry for any distress this incident may have caused him.
"This should not have happened and details of the incident will be circulated to officers with the aim of ensuring it does not happen again."
Mr Dand-Hansis said he had been offered £200 in Tesco vouchers but had refused as he did not feel it was "appropriate".
"I feel quite upset about it. I could have lost my job with a criminal conviction."
Tesco told Mr Dand-Hansis he had been "in the area of a theft" and was picked up on CCTV.
Mr Dand-Hansis said he was considering taking legal action against the police."

I wonder if he'll get a speculative invoice from a company that purports to deal with the prevention of loss to retailers?

[bluebottle]

Re: Police apology over Gainsborough Tesco theft accusation

Tesco seem to be under the delusion that if you offer someone Tesco shopping vouchers, everything will be alright. No it isn't and Tesco's senior management need to get it into their heads that wrongly accusing someone of something as serious as Theft is, in itself, very serious and should be treated as such.

Daniel should certainly consider legal action against Lincolnshire Police and Tesco. Alternatively, he could get Lincolnshire Police to agree to sort Tesco good and proper. Sometimes, an approach such as this can reap better rewards and be more effective than the more normal adversarial route.