Has the world gone mad?

When Robert Franks noticed two teenagers stealing from a shop, his instinct was to stop them.
Mr Franks grabbed hold of one boy, while his wife Julia called the security guard, thinking he would take over.
But they thought wrong. Instead of detaining the culprits, the guard told Mr Franks, 28, to let go of the youngster.
It wasn't in his job description to apprehend shoplifters, he said. And besides, he was busy guarding the lavatories.

Pathetic, it is no wonder this country is in a state.

Daily Mail

[NitroNutter]

1. You mean humanity not the world.
2. Can any thing possibly arrive at a destination it has allready resided at and never left for centuries ?

Mr Franks was actually lucky, he may well have misjudged the situation entirely and ended up in the dock itself on assault charges, this could have hapened even if they were attempting to lift goods from a store. Finally a shoplifter in general can never be aprehended in the store as until they have actually walked out of a shop's premises with said goods they have not actually stolen anything no matter how it appears to be or what their past records are. The skill of a store detective is to aprehend just as they get outside the doors. If the guard had been set a duty to guard the toilets he was doing his job, doing something else may have led to getting the sack, if he was supplied with a radio he could of course have communicated the issue further up the chain of command which one would have thought would have been part of the guards duty.

[Russ]

My former brother in law used to be a retail security guard for ASDA and he was told never to touch a shoplifter unless they were lashing out out at someone and only then it was to subdue them.

He was told he was there as a visual deterant only.

[BBKing]

Pathetic, it is no wonder this country is in a state.

This country? I'd be worried if I was a shareholder of the company that ran the shop, perhaps. Also, guards are rather obvious, which is why they found him, while the guys looking out for shoplifters are dressed to blend in with shoppers.

The gentleman in question could still make a citizen's arrest if he felt like it, then his wife could call the police, if she could find one, but if the 'shoplifter' hadn't actually left the shop, the constable won't be particularly impressed.

Anyway, it's in the Daily Mail, so I'll just go and get a non-nanny-state approved dose of salt to take it with - there's generally rather less than meets the eye to their 'hell in a handcart' style stories.

Originally Posted by BBKing

The gentleman in question could still make a citizen's arrest if he felt like it, then his wife could call the police, if she could find one, but if the 'shoplifter' hadn't actually left the shop, the constable won't be particularly impressed.

The legislation allows an arrest to be made on grounds of reasonable suspicion that an offence is being committed. If the miscreant was seen stuffing his inner pockets with goodies and these were later discovered by an attending police officer, then that would certainly justify the person making the arrest and presumably would be sufficient for some kind of charge to be brought?

[TheDaddy]

Originally Posted by Russ B

My former brother in law used to be a retail security guard for ASDA and he was told never to touch a shoplifter unless they were lashing out out at someone and only then it was to subdue them.

He was told he was there as a visual deterant only.

An Indian mate of mine does it for Sainsbury's, he caught some old woman 'grazing' by the pick n mix, when he approached her, she launched into this tirade about him 'coming over here nicking our jobs'! Some people

[Russ]

Originally Posted by Chris T

The legislation allows an arrest to be made on grounds of reasonable suspicion that an offence is being committed. If the miscreant was seen stuffing his inner pockets with goodies and these were later discovered by an attending police officer, then that would certainly justify the person making the arrest and presumably would be sufficient for some kind of charge to be brought?

Seeing as said miscreant hadn't passed the final point of sale, and if they had no previous, I'm sure some hotshot lawyer could say no crime had been committed.

[BBKing]

presumably would be sufficient for some kind of charge to be brought?

Defence lawyer - 'my client was innocently picking up items fully intending to purchase them, Your Worship'.

There can still be a conviction if they can prove intent to deprive the shop of the items in question, which is presumably a bit easier to prove if you're walking out with them rather than round the shop. It'd be interesting to know if the presence or absence of the means to pay for the items would be admissible - think of some absent minded lady with a basket full of stuff and who left her purse at home.