Shop workers wear body cameras in Yarm Sainsbury's

Assaulting a shop worker is to be made a separate criminal offence after the Government U-turned in the face of a long-running campaign.

Ministers had previously ruled out legislating to create a new offence, saying, in response to a parliamentary petition in October, they did not think it was “required or will be most effective”.

But on Wednesday, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced that his Government will be amending its Criminal Justice Bill to bring in the new offence, which will apply to England and Wales.

The move to create a separate offence follows a long-running campaign from major retailers and Conservative backbencher and Stockton South MP Matt Vickers amid rising violence against retail workers.

Shop workers have spoken about their fear of being assaulted and having to wear body cameras in the aisles (Image: PA MEDIA)

Over the past six months, more than 47,000 people have signed a petition calling for the creation of a separate offence of assaulting a retail worker.

Matt Vickers, who used to work in Woolworths when he was a student, chairs the All Party Parliamentary Group on Retail and has pushed the Government to introduce the new Bill.

He said: “The government has announced a new offence for assaulting a retail worker, an almost automatic Criminal Behaviour Order, and new powers to impose unlimited fines and jail times on those convicted.

Conservative backbencher and Stockton South MP Matt Vickers (Image: PA MEDIA)

“It’s thanks to this, alongside more funding for facial recognition and the tagging of prolific offenders and repeat shoplifters, that we will end the ‘wild west’ in our stores.”

In the North East, some shop workers are having to wear body cameras to protect themselves from assaults and anti-social behaviour. 

Supermarket group Sainsbury's introduced the cameras in 2018 in the majority of its UK branches - with every store having several cameras for its workers. 

In Yarm, workers there say that they have six body cameras and have to use them once a week because anti-social behaviour has increased over the last three months. 

Sophie Tweddell, who has worked at the Yarm Sainsbury's branch for eight months, has said that wearing the cameras has made her feel safer while working in the shop. 

(left-right) Labour's shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves, shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper, and deputy leader Angela Rayner during their visit to Yarm (Image: PA MEDIA)

This shocking insight came on the same day that Yarm was visited by Labour’s deputy leader Angela Rayner, shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves, and shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper - who all backed the decision to make assaulting shop staff a separate criminal offence.

But Shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper said the Government’s proposals are “a pale imitation” of her own party’s plans.

She said: “Under the Tories, too many communities and high streets are being blighted by staggering increases in shoplifting, up 30 per cent in the last year alone.

“Labour has been calling for tougher action against those who assault shop workers for more than 10 years. The Tories opposed and voted against our plans for better protection. Why has it taken them so long to act?”

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Alongside both sides of the political divide welcoming the new offence measure - retail groups have called it a "step in the right direction".

Helen Dickinson, chairwoman of the British Retail Consortium (BRC), welcomed the announcement, saying that “the voices of the three million people working in retail are finally being heard”.

She said: “The impact of retail violence has steadily worsened, with people facing racial abuse, sexual harassment, threatening behaviour, physical assault and threats with weapons, often linked to organised crime.

“Victims are ordinary hardworking people – teenagers taking on their first job, carers looking for part-time work, parents working around childcare.”

Muntazir Dipoti, the national president of the Federation of Independent Retailers (the Fed), added:  “We have been lobbying the government for years for better protection for those who work in shops, for any form of attacks on shop workers to be taken more seriously and for the penalties for those who commit such crimes to be more stringent.”