A Waitrose employee of 17 years was sacked recently for stopping a repeat offender shoplifter who had ransacked a display of Lindt Gold Bunny Easter eggs.
Walker Smith, a shop assistant at a branch of Waitrose in Clapham Junction, south London, was going about his normal duties when a customer stopped him. “
They told me someone had filled up a Waitrose bag with the eggs,” he said.
The 54-year-old said the shoplifter was a repeat offender. After spotting the thief, he “grabbed the bag” from the shoplifter, who snatched it back and, he said, there was a struggle for a few seconds before it snapped.
The Lindt Gold Bunny Easter eggs, which retail for £13 each, fell to the floor and the shoplifter made a dash for the exit. Smith said one of the bunnies broke into pieces. He picked a piece and “threw it out of frustration” towards some shopping trolleys, not aiming it at the shoplifter, he said.
Smith said he was previously told not to approach shoplifters but the toll of seeing them get away with theft repeatedly spurred him into action.
“I’ve been there 17 years. I’ve seen it happen every hour of every day for the last five years,” Smith quoted The Guardian as saying.
“It’s everybody from drug addicts to teenagers nicking bits and bobs or walking out with bottles of wine in their arms. We’re not allowed to do anything.”
Smith also claimed that the store has no security guards working on Mondays and Tuesday because “shoplifting incidents aren’t reported enough”, which in turn leaves staff like more vulnerable.
A few days later, Smith was fired.
"“I tried to stay strong and I didn’t say a word but inside I was crying. They led me out the back door by the bins. I just felt demoralised,” he said.
“Waitrose is like my family. My friends are there. I was there for 17 years, I must have been doing something right. I’m not a bad or violent or aggressive person. I just got frustrated seeing this day in and day out and not seeing Waitrose do much about it.”