Son falsely accused of shoplifting.

[dangerousdave]

On Sunday my 12 year old son and 2 friends went into town for a few hours. They went into a supermarket where one of them bought a drink and they left the store. They sat outside for a while and then my son's friend decided that he also wanted a drink. They re-entered the store (still with the partially drunk previous drink on them) and approached the checkout and paid for the second drink. The checkout operator asked about the partially drunk one, he was correctly told that it had previously been purchased. After buying the second drink, they left the store at which point the checkout operator followed them and stopped them outside the store. Two female members of staff then approached and brought them back inside.

They were lined up against a wall and questioned in full view of the public. My son, luckily, had taken a photo outside after they'd bought the first drink which he was able to show, complete with the first drink. He showed the staff this, they then were asked who served them. My son and friends were taken to the girl on the till who served them for the drink in question. She verified their story, obviously her till records showed they were telling the truth. The staff apologised and let them go.

He returned home and told us what happened, his friends told their parents (they are brothers) who phoned the store and accepted an apology. My ex wife was store detective at the store in question several years ago and is aware of procedures and kicked off big time.

What action can we take against the store given that they were stopped and falsely accused, that they were publically humiliated, questioned in public, are innocent and proved it and the three of them were questioned (they are 12 years old) without a parent being informed and detained under false pretences? Clearly there is a precedural error, on second purchase they explained a valid reason and did nothing wrong. What action can be taken, as whenever my son is out, people who saw it may point the finger. I am absolutely livid and was seething when told, as my son is honest and brought up to be truthful.

Thanks for help in advance

[bluebottle]

Re: Son falsely accused of shoplifting.

On Sunday my 12 year old son and 2 friends went into town for a few hours. They went into a supermarket where one of them bought a drink and they left the store. They sat outside for a while and then my son's friend decided that he also wanted a drink. They re-entered the store (still with the partially drunk previous drink on them) and approached the checkout and paid for the second drink. The checkout operator asked about the partially drunk one, he was correctly told that it had previously been purchased. After buying the second drink, they left the store at which point the checkout operator followed them and stopped them outside the store. Two female members of staff then approached and brought them back inside.

They were lined up against a wall and questioned in full view of the public. My son, luckily, had taken a photo outside after they'd bought the first drink which he was able to show, complete with the first drink. He showed the staff this, they then were asked who served them. My son and friends were taken to the girl on the till who served them for the drink in question. She verified their story, obviously her till records showed they were telling the truth. The staff apologised and let them go.

He returned home and told us what happened, his friends told their parents (they are brothers) who phoned the store and accepted an apology. My ex wife was store detective at the store in question several years ago and is aware of procedures and kicked off big time.

What action can we take against the store given that they were stopped and falsely accused, that they were publically humiliated, questioned in public, are innocent and proved it and the three of them were questioned (they are 12 years old) without a parent being informed and detained under false pretences? Clearly there is a precedural error, on second purchase they explained a valid reason and did nothing wrong. What action can be taken, as whenever my son is out, people who saw it may point the finger. I am absolutely livid and was seething when told, as my son is honest and brought up to be truthful.

Thanks for help in advance

Hi and welcome to Legal Beagles.

Speaking as a retired police officer, these sort of incidents make me very angry as it makes young people question the values of adults and the example they set, as well as be wary of being accused of wrongdoing when they have done nothing wrong whenever they step inside a retail premises.

I have noted that the employees involved apologised at the time, but, unfortunately,what they did was unacceptable and potentially unlawful. Allegations have been made that were subsequently proven to be without foundation and your son and his friends were wrongfully detained. I have noted that the parents of your son's friends parents have accepted an apology. As such, you are under no obligation to accept an apology, no matter how much the supermarket's management may try to persuade to do so.

Obviously, wrongly accusing someone of stealing is serious and the courts take a very serious view of those who make false allegations. The supermarket's management needs to be left in no doubt that this sort of behaviour by their employees is totally unacceptable and can have very serious consequences, not only for individuals, but the supermarket also. Although you should pursue this with the store manager, in the first instance, I would be inclined to pursue a formal complaint with the CEO.

[wales01man]

Re: Son falsely accused of shoplifting.

Since when did checkout assistants follow people out if the store?
Was this Tesco?

[bluebottle]

Re: Son falsely accused of shoplifting.

Since when did checkout assistants follow people out if the store?
Was this Tesco?

Sounds like their modus operandi. They aren't exactly the best of friends with Lincolnshire Police at the moment, are they?

[wales01man]

Re: Son falsely accused of shoplifting.

Am I reading the same thread?
Where does it say Tesco or Lincolnshire police

[bluebottle]

Re: Son falsely accused of shoplifting.

Am I reading the same thread?
Where does it say Tesco or Lincolnshire police

Don't worry, Wales. I mixed this thread up with another thread which does involve Tesco. I was making reference to the news report where Tesco wrongly accused someone of shoplifting and it ended up on Lincolnshire Police's Facebook page.

[wales01man]

Re: Son falsely accused of shoplifting.

OK
Iread the other report makes Tesco look like a wunch of bankers as Cleverclogs would say and they wonder why sales are going down

[CleverClogs]

Re: Son falsely accused of shoplifting.

I read the other report makes Tesco look like a wunch of bankers as Cleverclogs would say

Or a tunch of bossers.

and they wonder why sales are going down

Not (yet) by enough.

[bluebottle]

Re: Son falsely accused of shoplifting.

OK
Iread the other report makes Tesco look like a wunch of bankers as Cleverclogs would say and they wonder why sales are going down

I saw something on BBC News this morning about their falling sales. It does make you wonder if they are planning to close some of their larger stores. They have two Extra stores near Plymouth and tried to demolish an existing superstore, within Plymouth, and turn it into an Extra. The local planing authority blocked them and the Planning Inspector backed the local planning authority. To the best of my knowledge and belief, they either haven't appealed to the SoS or they did and the SoS threw their appeal out.

[Monkey Drunk]

Re: Son falsely accused of shoplifting.

Falsely accused, found not guilty, apology forthcoming?

Moral of the story? Always keep your receipts until you get home!

What next? Let your son move on with his life instead of wanting to get something out of the situation as this is quite clearly leading up to the suggestion of compensation which is ridiculous.

[bluebottle]

Re: Son falsely accused of shoplifting.

Falsely accused, found not guilty, apology forthcoming?

Moral of the story? Always keep your receipts until you get home!

What next? Let your son move on with his life instead of wanting to get something out of the situation as this is quite clearly leading up to the suggestion of compensation which is ridiculous.

Er, no, MD.

Supermarket employees out of control. Check.
Supermarket employees need severe rollicking, written warning or P45. Check.
Supermarket manager needs good hard kick up backside or same as employees involved in incident. Check.
Supermarket operator needs to get a grip on employees and make sure this sort of thing never happens again before a customer gives them a bloody good hiding in the courts. Check.

The circumstances of the case to which this thread refers, MD, do not warrant a compensation claim, but a written acceptance of wrongdoing by the supermarket operator and a written assurance that this will not happen again would be appropriate. The reality is that retail staff, particularly, retail security staff are getting to the point of being out of control. The public have a right not to have false/wrongful allegations made against them, or be assaulted by retail staff or be wrongly detained by them.

[wales01man]

Re: Son falsely accused of shoplifting.

Agree with Bluebottle on this the supermarket must change next time the person accused may take some violent action or other action at least a public apology from the staff and the manager just cos its a shop doesn't make it right

[CleverClogs]

Re: Son falsely accused of shoplifting.

Falsely accused, found not guilty, apology forthcoming?

The mere apology is far from adequate.

If you had manhandled a child from the street into a store, accused them of theft, harangued them in front of other customers and generally acted as if you were a third-rate plod from the days of George Dixon, do you seriously suppose that "We're sorry" would excuse or exculpate your actions?

At the very least, there are the matters of wrongful arrest and false imprisonment to consider.

Moral of the story? Always keep your receipts until you get home!

No. The moral of the story is never try to arrest someone on mere suspicion as if one were a constable.

What next? Let your son move on with his life instead of wanting to get something out of the situation as this is quite clearly leading up to the suggestion of compensation which is ridiculous.

It is far from ridiculous.

The staff at that appalling store acted in ultra vires and they - and the store bosses - should be taught a lesson to stop them doing it again.

This time, they were lucky. Their victims were just children - but their next victim might be an elderly man who, from the stress of their antics, suffers a heart attack and drops down dead.

Do you suppose that "Sorry" would be adequate in that case, too?

[dangerousdave]

Re: Son falsely accused of shoplifting.

It's not about compensation, it's about right and wrong. I teach my son principles and NO-ONE has the right to detain my childwhen hhe's done nothing wrong. I don't want money, I want the supermarket ( neither Tesco nor in Lincolnshire) to accept they've done wrong! !!!!!! People FALSELY accused an innocent person of a crime with mo evidence in front of 100's of people and shouldn't be allowed to get away with it. And yes, it was the checkout operator who left his till (near the exit door) to stop my son. For all those who make sensible comments, thank you!

[dangerousdave]

Re: Son falsely accused of shoplifting.

It's not about compensation, it's about right and wrong. I teach my son principles and NO-ONE has the right to detain my childwhen hhe's done nothing wrong. I don't want money, I want the supermarket ( neither Tesco nor in Lincolnshire) to accept they've done wrong! !!!!!! People FALSELY accused an innocent person of a crime with mo evidence in front of 100's of people and shouldn't be allowed to get away with it. And yes, it was the checkout operator who left his till (near the exit door) to stop my son. For all those who make sensible comments, thank you!