Attacking shop workers to be made a separate criminal offense after government U-turn

Attacks on shop workers will be made a separate criminal offense after a U-turn by the government in the face of a long-running campaign.

Ministers have previously ruled out legislating to create new offenses, saying in response to a parliamentary petition in October that they did not believe it was “necessary and would not be the most effective”.

But on Wednesday, Rishi Sunak announced that his government would amend the Criminal Justice Bill to introduce new offences.

He said: “I am sending a message to criminals who think they can get away with stealing from local businesses or abusing shop workers – whether they are serious organized crime gangs, repeat criminals or opportunistic thieves – that they are subject to enough.

“Our local shops are the lifeblood of our communities and they must trade freely without the threat of crime or abuse.”

The new offense carries a maximum penalty of six months in prison or an unlimited fine, the same penalty as the existing common assault offence.

Under amendments to the bill currently before Parliament, repeat offenders could also be forced to wear electronic tags, much like those who regularly shoplift.

The government also plans to trial community sentencing measures with an as-yet-unnamed police force to tackle high rates of shoplifting, and make greater use of facial recognition technology to identify people wanted by police in crowded areas.

Judges already have the power to ban repeat offenders from certain shops under criminal behavior orders, with breaches punishable by up to five years in prison.

The creation of a separate offense follows a long-running campaign by major retailers and Tory backbencher Matt Vickers amid rising violence against retail workers.

Over the past six months, more than 47,000 people have signed a petition calling for assaults on retail workers to be made a separate crime.

But an initial response, published in October last year, said: “The government is committed to supporting hard-working retail workers who may be exposed to intolerable violence and abuse, but we do not believe further legislative changes are needed and would be most effective. .”

The response added that the government had introduced legislation in 2022 to make assaults on “public-facing workers”, including retail staff, a felony and impose penalties “to highlight that such attacks are completely unacceptable”.

Earlier this year, the British Retail Consortium (BRC) published a report stating that incidents of violence and abuse against shop workers had increased by 50% between 2021/22 and 2022/23.

BRC chair Helen Dickinson welcomed the news and said “the voices of the three million people working in retail are finally being heard”.

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

“The victims are ordinary hardworking people – teenagers starting their first job, caregivers looking for part-time work, parents working in child care.”

Paddy Lillis, general secretary of retail union Usdaw, said the government’s U-turn was “long overdue”.

He said: “Years of indecision and delay on this issue by this government have resulted in thousands of shop workers suffering needless physical and mental harm.

“I hope that any proposals put forward by the government will be substantive and effective, giving shop workers, key workers in every community, the respect they have long deserved but, sadly, too often are denied.”

Labour’s shadow home secretary, Yvette Cooper, said the government’s proposals were a “pale imitation” of her party’s plans.

She said: “Too many communities and high streets have been blighted by a dramatic increase in shoplifting under the Conservative government, with a 30 per cent increase last year alone.

“Labour has been calling for tougher action against those who attack shop workers for more than a decade. The Conservatives opposed and voted against our better protection plans. Why did it take them so long to act?”