Woman smashes shelves of wine bottles angry over Covid-19 restrictions in shop, caught abusing staff on camera
A woman was caught on camera breaking two shelves of wine after she apparently got enraged over Covid-19 restrictions. According to reports, the videotaped incident happened in May but came to light recently in which the unidentified shopper was seen inside the Co-op store on Lingfield High Street, Surrey. When she was asked to follow the newly imposed one-way system to help stop the spread of deadly virus, she became enraged and started “punching and kicking”. The CCTV footage showed the woman knocking out a number of wine bottles onto the floor and leaving a pool of red liquid and broken glass scattered here and there. She was also heard yelling at the workers of the shop.
A worker at the store, who preferred not to disclose their identity, told The Metro: “One day in May at the height of lockdown, a female customer became very agitated when we asked her to follow the store’s one-way system. She got very angry and started shouting at me and my colleague who were serving customers from behind the protective till screen. She stormed up to the till screen and just flipped out, punching and kicking it before rushing over to the alcohol aisle where she started grabbing bottles of wine, sending them smashing them to the ground. Two entire shelves of glass bottles came crashing down. She then picked up a basket containing milk and eggs and threw it across the store.”
The staff member said the woman’s behavior left her frozen and horrified as what would be her next step. “Just last year I was actually punched in the face by a female customer because I had refused to serve her alcohol as she was clearly intoxicated. I’m still recovering from the mental strain that this has caused me. People like me are key workers, we get up every morning to serve the communities in which we live and work. It simply isn’t part of our job to be attacked and I desperately hope the government does more to help us,” she added.
“We were called to reports of an incident of ongoing criminal damage in the Co-Op on the High Street of Lingfield just after 12.30 pm on 12 May. Two suspects had damaged the store and been verbally abusive to staff. A 41-year-old woman from Lingfield was arrested and given three conditional cautions for criminal damage and public order,” a Surrey Police spokeswoman said as reported by The Mirror. “A 61-year-old man from Godstone was also arrested in connection with the incident and given two community resolution orders for public order. Both of them have also been banned from entering the store."
Witnessing a surge in such types of incidents, a number of businesses, including Tesco, Aldi, Asda, Boots, Sainsbury's and Marks and Spencer, have sent a letter to Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Friday, September 18, demanding a new criminal offence so that attacks against shop workers would be dealt with tougher penalties. Jo Whitfield, chief executive of Co-op Food, told The Times: "The role played by shop workers in serving their communities is nothing short of amazing, yet they have to contend with unprecedented levels of violence and abuse on a daily basis."
Christian Härtnagel, chief executive of Lidl GB, added, “It is an upsetting reality that retail workers are having to deal with abusive or violent behavior on a daily basis. Everyone deserves to go to work free from fear, therefore it is vital that greater protections are introduced."