Female Co-op worker hit over the head with bottle in vicious Easter attack
A female Co-op worker was hit over the head with bottles of weed killer during a violent attack in a shop on Easter Monday.
The attack happened at the food store in the Hill Top area of West Bromwich at around 8.20pm, when a male shoplifter entered the store and started ransacking the shop.
When she tried to ask him to leave, she was shoved out of the way and verbally abused.
As the shoplifter left, he and an assailant waiting on a motorbike continued to abuse the woman and threw bottles of weedkiller at her which struck her on the head.
The shoplifters then fled with a large amount of stock.
The woman was not seriously injured and did not need hospital treatment but has been left extremely shaken.
A spokesperson for West Midlands Police said: "We were called to The Co-op, Hill Top, West Bromwich on Monday at around 8.10pm to reports of a robbery.
"One man entered the store and stole chocolates and sweets before hitting a shop worker over the head with a bottle of weed killer when they tried to stop him from leaving.
"Another suspect was waiting on a black moped outside the shop.
"We are also investigating a theft from the store the day before where sweets and chocolate were stolen. We believe that incidents are linked.
"If you have information, get in touch via Live Chat on our website west-midlands.police.uk quoting crime reference number 20/391469/22."
Central England Co-op said it is helping police with their investigation and has reinforced its zero tolerance message.
Craig Goldie, loss prevention manager, said: “Everyone at Central England Co-op has been shocked and appalled at this incident at our Hill Top store where our colleague was assaulted while they were just trying to do their job serving their local community.
“We strongly condemn any form of abuse or violence towards our colleagues and we’re offering our full support to the entire team at our Hill Top store. We’re working closely with the local police force to bring the criminal responsible to justice.
“These types of incidents reinforce our ongoing campaign calling for better protection for shopworkers and highlights our zero tolerance policy on all types of crime aimed at our colleagues and customers.
“Once again, we’re sending a clear message out to anyone who might consider targeting our colleagues and stores – it’s not worth the risk and no crime will be tolerated.”
New figures for 2021-22 from Central England Co-op showed that nearly 17,000 incidents have been reported over the last year including 117 assaults, 1,250 cases of verbal abuse and threats, 442 anti-social behaviour reports, and 166 direct incidents related to Covid-19.
This means, compared to last year, the total number of incidents have jumped by 26.1 per cent with rises in verbal abuse, threats and anti-social behaviour.
Central England Co-op has rolled out a range of different measures in recent months including security assistance buttons and using tracking devices in more products to deter would-be thieves.
It announced the roll-out of colleague body cameras to over 50 stores last year following a successful trial designed to keep staff safe and help drive down crime in stores.
This comes after the retailer welcomed the news that an amendment has now been tabled by the Home Office to make an attack on shopworkers an aggravated offence after years of campaigning.
The Co-op, along with partners across the co-operative movement and fellow retailers and trade unions, has been campaigning for better protection for colleagues with incidents of violence against shopworkers rising sharply in recent years.
