Retailers urge MPs to back amendment to Crime Bill

The call for stiffer penalties for those committing assaults and attacks on shopworkers comes as a new report ‘Breaking the Cycle: Gaining the views of criminal justice practitioners and retail offenders on effective sentencing’ is launched.

The research – funded through the Co-op’s Safer Colleagues, Safer Communities, campaign –  offers a response to the white paper ‘A Smarter Approach to Sentencing and the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill’. The provides clear opportunities to encourage government to legislate to protect and support shopworkers.

The new research supports the bill’s intention to increase the maximum penalty for assaulting an emergency worker from 12 months to two years imprisonment and, to provide the courts with enhanced powers to sentence in those situations in a way that reflects the severity of that offence. However, it goes on to stress that in light of the increase in the frequency and severity of assaults against shop workers, it is understandable that those working in the retail sector are also calling for similar legislation to protect them, something which would send a clear signal to perpetrators that their behaviour in communities is unacceptable, whilst signalling to victims that these crimes will be taken seriously.

Revealing its latest data, in the first quarter of 2021, Co-op has seen almost 400 incidents where weapons have been used against shopworkers, with 56% of those involving either sharp implements, such as a syringe or knife or, a bottle.

Jo Whitfield, Co-op Retail chief executive, said: “Violence, abuse and anti-social behaviour towards shopworkers is unacceptable, and it is clear from our conversations that there is appetite across the political spectrum to bring forward new clauses to the government’s Crime (PCSC) Bill which would provide the protection that frontline shopworkers need and, deserve. Stiffer sentencing will send out a clear message that criminal behaviour in our communities will not be tolerated by society, and importantly lets shopworkers – who have gone to amazing lengths to feed and care for communities throughout the pandemic – know that they are being listened to and taken seriously. Assaults and abuse should not be part of the job, and by standing together, I am confident we can encourage the government to change its mind and bring about greater protection for shopworkers in all our communities.”

Association of Convenience Stores chief executive, James Lowman, added: “Retailers and their colleagues faced over a million incidents of verbal abuse and thousands of attacks over the last year, despite keeping their communities going throughout the pandemic. We are sending a clear message that these incidents will not be tolerated, and that those who attack shopworkers will not reoffend. The government has been considering tougher sentencing as part of a range of measures to deal with violence and abuse for a long time – we need action now.”