Bosses reassure staff after attack leaves worker with broken ribs
Central England Co-op have warned that violent attacks on its staff "will not be tolerated" after a woman was left with broken ribs during an assault.
The attack happened at the Court Oak Road in Harborne, Birmingham, on Sunday evening and saw a female staff member pulled over and injured as she hit the floor after stopping a male shoplifter exiting the shop.
She suffered fractured ribs as a result of the incident and the Co-op said the entire team was "extremely shaken by the ordeal".
Loss prevention manager Craig Goldie said: "Everyone at Central England Co-op has been shocked and appalled at this shocking incident at our Court Oak Road store where our colleague was assaulted and left with painful injuries 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 Court Oak Road store. We’re working closely with the local police force to bring the criminal responsible to justice."
He added: "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."
Central England Co-op revealed 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.
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.
