Tesco staff offered body cameras following rise in assaults | Climate

Frontline Tesco workers will be offered body cameras following an “unacceptable” spike in verbal and physical attacks.

The supermarket’s chief executive Ken Murphy said the move to protect its “unsung heroes” was prompted by a rise in physical assaults by a third compared with this time last year.

Writing in the Mail on Sunday, Mr Murphy said those responsible are “small in number, but have a disproportionate impact” on staff.

Tesco has invested £44m in four years on security measures including door access systems, protection screens and digital radios, as well as the cameras, Mr Murphy said.

“Money spent on making sure people are safe at work is always well spent,” he said.

“But it should not have to be like this. Crime is a scourge on society and an insult to shoppers and retail workers.”

Saying it is “time we put an end to it”, the retail boss labelled the rise in incidents as “unacceptable” and condemned the impact on workers.

He called for a change in the law to make abuse or violence towards retail workers an offence across the UK, saying “we cannot go on like this”.

“I want those who break the law in our stores brought to book,” he said.

“After a long campaign by retailers and the union Usdaw, last year the government made attacking shop workers an aggravating factor in convictions – meaning offenders should get longer sentences.

“Judges should make use of this power. But we need to go further, as in Scotland, and make abuse or violence towards retail workers an offence in itself.”