Sainsbury’s worker sacked after ‘tackling champagne thief’ – hours after CPR

A Sainsbury’s worker has allegedly been sacked after “tackling an aggressive Champagne thief”. It came just hours after Gary MacArthur, who had worked in the store in West Wickham, London, for 15 years, had performed CPR on a security guard who collapsed.

Mr MacArthur, a shop assistant, was fired for gross misconduct in March after Sainsbury’s said he failed to follow official guidance. The incident came after he agreed to stay on for an extra hour after his shift finished in order to cover for a security guard who suffered a stroke earlier in the day. As the end of his extended shift approached, Mr MacArthur had reports of a shoplifter trying to steal high-value bottles, including Moët, Bollinger and Veuve Clicquot.

First reported by LBC, the former worker, who was also warned last August after challenging another shoplifter, said: “My security guard started at 1pm, and he didn’t seem right in himself – he looked lighter in his colour. Around 2.30, he had a stroke on the shop floor. Me and another colleague were the first at his scene, did a bit of CPR and called the ambulance… he was rushed to hospital.”

He added: “I finish up at 9pm, [and] as I go to take my headpiece off, I’ve got all the girls screaming in my ear going ‘come down, we’ve got an aggressive Champagne thief.’”

Mr MacArthur said he quickly confronted the suspect and physically escorted him from the store. He then found a bag containing several bottles hidden in a bush outside and took it back inside.

However, after he returned the goods to the stockroom, the shoplifter had re-entered the store and begun smashing bottles. When he grabbed four more bottles, MacArthur and a customer restrained him on the floor before police arrived.

He was then dismissed from his job just three months later, while his appeal, heard in April, was unsuccessful. The supermarket said Mr Macarthur’s decision to remove the man from the store had escalated the situation.

A Sainsbury’s spokesperson said: “We are seeing incidents of violence, aggression and theft happening in our stores on a daily basis, threatening the safety of colleagues and customers.

“We are responding by investing in extra security measures, ensuring addressing this issue remains a Government priority and sharing intelligence with police forces around the country, not asking our colleagues to put their safety on the line by tackling offenders.

“That’s why our guidance to colleagues on responding to retail crime prioritises keeping everyone in our stores safe and is specifically designed to prevent incidents from escalating.”