{"id":357804,"date":"2025-08-19T22:00:48","date_gmt":"2025-08-19T22:00:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/357804\/"},"modified":"2025-08-19T22:00:48","modified_gmt":"2025-08-19T22:00:48","slug":"every-system-that-should-have-helped-me-failed-victim-slams-police-response-after-being-attacked-for-confronting-shoplifters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/357804\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Every system that should have helped me failed’: Victim slams police response after being attacked for confronting shoplifters"},"content":{"rendered":"

Emilie Martin, a 29-year-old event manager, was shopping at a Tesco\u2019s in Hackney Central 10 years ago when she confronted a group of five or six thieving teenagers.<\/p>\n

But when she \u201ctried to do the right thing\u201d by reporting the group to a member of staff, she was ambushed in the car park minutes later. <\/p>\n

Ms Martin needed multiple surgeries after suffering punches to the face. <\/p>\n

The suspects involved in the attack have never been identified by the Metropolitan Police.<\/p>\n

She told LBC she has been left with PTSD and feels abandoned after all the systems that should have helped her failed.<\/p>\n

\u201c10 years on, I can honestly say that every system that should have helped me afterwards has failed me and that has been the biggest shock,\u201d she told LBC\u2019s Tom Swarbrick.<\/p>\n

Read more: <\/strong>Policing Minister urges shops to rethink layouts to curb soaring shoplifting rates<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Read more: <\/strong>Gang of 12 steals \u00a360,000 of luxury goods from Tesco in just six weeks – as Met vows to crackdown on shoplifting<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

The first of the failures occurred on the night, as Ms Martin claims she was never offered any first aid or even an ice pack after she was attacked.<\/p>\n

She slammed the police for failing to make arrests \u2013 with no suspects identified following the attack \u2013 arguing the force \u201cdidn\u2019t investigate properly\u201d.<\/p>\n

Tesco’s \u201cclaim the CCTV was lost in a technical error \u201c was another failure, she said, adding that the supermarket \u201cdidn’t offer any help\u201d and \u201cno real apology\u201d.<\/p>\n

This week, Thames Valley police and Crime Commissioner Matthew Barber said the public should be doing more to stop shoplifting rather than just relying on police.<\/p>\n

He said everyone has a “responsibility” to help if people wanted to live “in a safe, prosperous society”.<\/p>\n

Ms Martin agreed that we live in a society and that \u201capathy is dangerous\u201d, but said more needs to be done to ensure there is \u201ca safety net for victims in those instances.\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cI’m proof that that just doesn’t exist,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

LBC has approached Tesco for comment.<\/p>\n

Shoplifting hit a record high in 2024, with the number of offences surpassing 500,000 for the first time, up 20 per cent from 2023.<\/p>\n

Katy Bourne, the national lead for shoplifting at the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners, said last week more robust police interventions and \u201cmeaningful criminal justice measures\u201d are needed to prevent reoffending.<\/p>\n

The police and crime commissioner for Sussex said: \u201cWhat on earth has happened to our high streets and our city centres? Why do some people feel they can rob shops with impunity and abuse and assault staff without any fear of retribution?\u201d<\/p>\n

There must be rehabilitation for some offenders as well as \u201csignificant alternatives to our overcrowded prisons\u201d, she said.<\/p>\n

It comes after the Information Commissioner\u2019s Office told shopkeepers that putting up pictures of thieves in shop windows could violate the criminals\u2019 data rights.<\/a><\/p>\n

In guidance for shopkeepers on how to fight back against the rising levels of shoplifting, the ICO says retailers \u201cmust only share personal information that\u2019s proportionate and necessary to achieve your purpose\u201d.<\/p>\n

The ICO suggests shopkeepers should share suspect details with the police, or give information about the incident to a manager or another store nearby.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Emilie Martin, a 29-year-old event manager, was shopping at a Tesco\u2019s in Hackney Central 10 years ago when…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":357805,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7757],"tags":[748,393,4884,257,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-357804","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-london","8":"tag-britain","9":"tag-england","10":"tag-great-britain","11":"tag-london","12":"tag-uk","13":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115057687536477404","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/357804","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=357804"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/357804\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/357805"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=357804"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=357804"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=357804"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}