The government has tabled an amendment to the Police, Crime,
Sentencing and Courts Bill which states that the courts must
treat assaults committed “against a person providing a public
service, performing a public duty or providing services to the
public” as an aggravating factor.
In response, Helen Dickinson OBE, Chief Executive of the British
Retail Consortium, said:
“We welcome the Government’s proposed amendment to the Police,
Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill which means that people who
commit violent offences against retail workers can receive
tougher sentences for their crimes.
“By tabling this amendment, government has signalled that it
understands the seriousness of the issue facing retail workers,
455 of whom are abused or attacked every day at work. If the
police prosecute all reported violent incidents as aggravated
offences and the courts sentence those convicted accordingly,
retail workers will feel better protected, would-be offenders may
be deterred, and we will begin to see the true scale of the
problem faced by our hardworking colleagues.”
-ENDS-
Notes to editors:
- The most recent BRC Crime Survey shows
that there are 455 incidents of violence and abuse every day.
This stat has risen since the pandemic.
- The survey also showed that only 40% of retailers rated the
police response to reported incidents as ‘good’ or ‘fair’,
leading to many incidents not being reported to the police at
all.
- The BRC and its members have been campaigning to raise
awareness of this issue for some time and have worked with
parliamentarians to shape legislation that would offer better
protection in law for retail workers.
- See the Government amendment here.
