Do people have no shame any more?

Shoplifters.

What is the point of these new guidelines? Whom do they benefit?

i think you are referring to the new shoplifter sentencing guidelines introduced by this Labour Government.
Estimates put the number of shoplifters likely to avoid a custodial sentence as a result in the many thousands.
I believe some of the details you cite are inaccurate but it does seem reasonable to describe the guidelines as a shoplifters charter.
How much Keir Starmer supports this change may be open to debate. He doesn’t really seem to be control of much of what this government is doing.

I'm manager of a charity shop. We've had to close the toilets because toilet rolls kept getting nicked, and last week someone nicked the coasters off the table in our small coffee area. Nothing surprises me now!

It was Walker Smith who instigated the physical interaction.

Don't know where you got that from as it isn't true.
A quick Google tells a different story.
Daily Mail perhaps pedelling more lies perhaps.

Agree.

Well that's Starmer for you. Useless and with no respect for the normal law-abiding, hard-working person.

Kier starmer wants to de-criminalise shoplifting. I think you can successfully steal up to £200 worth and get away with hit. What a hero that guy is!!

I don’t know, because, rightly, Waitrose won't comment on his specific case, but he has agreed/admitted he knew he shouldn’t have tackled the thief or thrown anything. He knew the rules. He potentially put other people at risk.

Shop thieves come in all shapes and sizes. I think there should be more support for drug abuse which is one of the key drivers for theft from shops. I don’t think incarceration works for addicts.

I have no data but would suggest theft out of necessity is low, to sell on to feed addiction is higher, and the highest loss is probably from planned organised crime gangs.

CCTV and communications are helping Police tackle the organised gangs but as they are able to commit crime and move on geographically so quickly it’s difficult to tackle.

There needs to be a major crackdown on shoplifting, and shoplifters should be sent to jail, every time. Even for just a Freddo or a grape.

How many times does an employer have to warn an employee, who agreed he already knew he was breaking the rules, before ending their employment ?

Don’t forget he admitted to a physical tussle and throwing something, either of which actions could have harmed an innocent bystander.

Waitrose/John Lewis have to consider their position from a ‘what if a customer, or that member of staff, had been harmed in the tussle or by something being thrown’ position.

Some shop thieves carry all sorts of weapons nowadays and shop staff must consider the safety of innocent customers as well as their own safety.

I agree that dismissal is heavy handed but with employment law the way it is the employer must have had impeccable grounds for "gross misconduct" per the employee rules to have gone as far as dismissal rather than a "warning".

Obviously we do not know if there is backstory that has not been made public. I am NOT implying there is one.

I think a lot of people are wrongly criticising Waitrose. Walker Smith admitted he knew he was going against the rules when he physically tackled the shoplifter he also admitted he threw something at the person as they left, in frustration.

Broke the rules, could have got himself, the shoplifter or customers injured in the physical tussle and then with throwing something.
Walker Smith wasn’t even a security guard and knew he was breaking rules. The shoplifter could have been like this one who stabbed a security guard. It’s just not safe to tackle people and be a have a go hero.

Waitrose policy on not having staff challenge shoplifting is in my opinion nuts. However that’s up to them.

I guess any blackguards finding this out will feel free to go into their nearest store and help themselves.

However, I would question the commercial sense of sacking an employee of 17 years for challenging a shoplifter.

Have the decision makers there not heard of social media? Waitrose reputation has taken a very hard PR knock. All the more so now Iceland have offered the victim of their incompetence a job.

Maybe Waitrose need to take a long hard look in the mirror.

But do you nevertheless tell the staff or other customers that you are stealing it, like this chap?!

It's a pity that it wasn't a bunch of CF blokes doing it in Tesco in Dundee - then we could have referred to them as 'Alba men' at no extra charge.

<gets coat>

😂

On a recent shopping trip I saw an elderly gentleman browsing the alcohol aisle and later he walked past me at the checkout clearly carrying a clinking carrier bag.

Are you sure he didn't pay though? I regularly load up my own bag with stuff when I am doing a light shop and don't need a trolley, because I find it easier and more comfortable to carry than the wire baskets. But I simply empty it out at the till and pay for everything then load it all in again. If the staff want to stalk me around the shop, worried I might be stealing, or watch me on cameras they are very welcome to. I don't steal and they can't assume I do until I actually leave without paying, which I don't.

On a recent shopping trip I saw an elderly gentleman browsing the alcohol aisle and later he walked past me at the checkout clearly carrying a clinking carrier bag. And two men in the coffee aisle were discussing how expensive coffee is and one said “Well only if you pay for it”. The other asked what he meant and he shrugged and said “I just take it”.