Shop worker assaulted whilst preventing theft in South Derbyshire

A shop worker was punched in the face as he tried to prevent theft at a South Derbyshire supermarket.

The incident happened at the Co-op store on Burton Road, Overseal at around 9.15pm on 26 January.

A man assaulted the shop worker when he was confronted on his way out of the store with a basket full of goods that he had not paid for.

The victim did not require medical treatment, a Central England Co-operative spokesperson informed Asian Trader.

“We are giving our full support to the colleague following the incident and urge anyone with information to contact Derbyshire Police to support their investigation,” the spokesperson added.

“We also want to send a clear message out to anyone who might act in a violent or aggressive way to colleagues in our store – this behaviour will not be tolerated.”

Derbyshire Police has released CCTV images of two men in connection with the incident.

Anyone with information on these men can contact PC James Williams at Swadlincote Police Station by calling 101 or through social media channels of Derbyshire Police and quoting reference number 2*49637. They can also anonymously contact the independent charity Crimestoppers, on 0800 555 111 or by visiting www.crimestoppers-uk.org.

Central England Co-op urged the members of the public to rally against the attacks on shop workers.

“We want people to think long and hard about the person wearing our uniform – they will be someone’s mother, father, brother, sister, son, daughter, grandma or grandfather,” the spokesperson said.

“We want people to ask themselves whether they would like their relatives to be confronted by someone in a violent or aggressive way – the answer is no and therefore why should our colleagues or anyone who works in retail have to even consider facing up to this kind of behaviour.

“Everyone at Central England Co-op is proud to live, work and serve in our local communities – now we need people to work with us to make sure that violence and aggression towards our colleagues becomes a thing of the past.”