After Sainsbury's became the latest supermarket to fire an employee for protecting a store from brazen shoplifters, Mirror readers have been having their say on the controversial policy.
Recent Incidents of Employee Dismissals
Gary MacArthur has been dismissed after 15 years of service for tackling a thief who was trying to steal Bollinger and Veuve Clicquot before turning violent, throwing glass bottles at terrified staff and customers at the branch in West Wickham, south London. Sainsbury's sacked the assistant for gross misconduct after failing to observe its guidance on "preventing incidents".
It came weeks after Waitrose employee Walker Smith, 54, was fired for stopping a shoplifter from stealing Easter eggs by grabbing their bag, which "violated company policy against intervening". The incident prompted backlash from politicians and the public, with calls for a boycott.
Earlier this year, a store manager who worked at Morrisons for 29 years, said he was removed from his position after tackling a repeated shoplifter who became aggressive. Sean Egan, 46, worked at the shop in Walsall in the west Midlands since he was just 17-years-old and was sacked for an altercation with career criminal Daniel Kendall, who spat in his face and became aggressive.
Public and Police Reaction
Met Police chief Sir Mark Rowley even voiced support for him, saying: "On the surface, if a store manager or shopkeeper, if they feel able to intervene and they feel they can do that safely, we would always want people to do that."
Shoplifting in England and Wales has now reached a 20-year record high, with 530,643 offences recorded in the year ending March 2025 - a 20 per cent increase from 2024. Retail groups report 1,300 daily incidents of violence and abuse against staff.
Details of the Sainsbury's Incident
Sainsbury's are the latest to get rid of a long-serving employee after Mr MacArthur tackled a bottle-hurling shoplifter, hours after he helped save the life of the store's security guard. He had been forced to perform CPR when his colleague collapsed after suffering a stroke. The thief took advantage of the lack of security to carry out the raid in December. He was fired in March following an investigation.
A Sainsbury’s spokesperson said: "We are seeing incidents of violence, aggression and theft happening in our stores on a daily basis, threatening the safety of colleagues and customers. We are responding by investing in extra security measures, ensuring addressing this issue remains a Government priority and sharing intelligence with police forces around the country, not asking our colleagues to put their safety on the line by tackling offenders.
"That’s why our guidance to colleagues on responding to retail crime prioritises keeping everyone in our stores safe and is specifically designed to prevent incidents from escalating."
MacArthur says the company's decision has left him devastated. Recalling the day of the incident, he told LBC: “My security guard started at 1pm and he didn't seem right in himself - he looked lighter in his colour. Around 2:30, he had a stroke on the shop floor. Me and another colleague were the first at his scene, did a bit of CPR and called the ambulance… he was rushed to hospital.”
“I finish up at 9pm, [and] as I go to take my headpiece off, I’ve got all the girls screaming in my ear going ‘come down, we’ve got an aggressive champagne thief," he added. Mr MacArthur recognised the shoplifter as a repeat offender who had regularly targeted the store and built up a local reputation for pinching fancy champagne.
Aware that the shoplifter had a reputation for aggression toward women, Mr MacArthur confronted him before physically escorting him from the store. After getting the man out of the store, he says he uncovered a bag containing what he believed were stolen bottles from a nearby store.
He said he took the bag from the bush and took it into the store, returning the goods to the stockroom. But by the time he was done, the thief had returned to the store and began smashing bottles, throwing two toward Mr MacArthur's manager and another colleague.
As the thief went to grab more bottles, a customer used a trolley to block their exit, which caused the thief to become more aggressive. Mr MacArthur and the customer restrained the shoplifter, holding him on the floor until police arrived.
