IMAGES of known shoplifters must be shared on WhatsApp in order to protect staff, a supermarket boss has demanded.
Iceland’s executive chairman Richard Walker yesterday blasted “bonkers” data protection laws that prevent him from doing so to safeguard violent offenders’ “human rights”.
He also slammed the “ridiculous” £200 theft limit introduced by the Tories in 2014, which treats thefts under this amount as “low value” and lets offenders off with a slap on the wrist via post.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has pledged to scrap the limit as well as making assaults on shop workers a specific criminal offence in a new crime bill.
Urging the new Government to get cracking, Mr Walker told the BBC: “We talk about workers’ rights… how about the right not to be assaulted at work?
“So making assault on shop workers a stand alone offence, getting rid of this ridiculous £200 limit, which basically gives a free card to shoplifters to nick what they want.
“And more police resourcing because they are not responding at the moment as they should do.”
He went on: “I’d also like to throw the gauntlet down to the Information Commissioner because to protect the human rights of known violent offenders I am not allowed to share on WhatsApp groups images of known shop lifters, which is bonkers.
“So I think there’s many things the Government can do and clear up that will help my customers, my colleagues in the day-to-day life, just go about their business.”
Shoplifting hit a 20-year high in the year to March 2024, with 443,995 offences recorded by police in England and Wales.
This is a third higher than in the same period in 2014, when 326,440 offences were recorded but led to significantly higher numbers being punished.
