Falsely accused of crime on FB

[falselyaccused]

I've put this in legal too but posting here for traffic:

I was in a shopping centre on the weekend and had finished my shopping in a popular clothes shop. As I was exiting the store, the alarm sounded and I was asked by a security guard to stand aside and allow him to check my bags which I was happy to comply with. As expected, no stolen items were found in my bag and the security guard actually said the alarm might’ve gone off by mistake, or someone could’ve timed their exit with mine to increase their chances of getting away with theft. I though it was all okay until I got home and decided to check FB later in the day. Imagine my shock to find very clear photos of me having my bags searched by the security guard at the store which someone had taken. They accused me of theft and warned other people to stay away from me if they saw me in the street! The post had a gazillion replies of shock and people lamenting about how the area was going to the dogs, etc. I reported the post and it got taken down but I’ve had people who recognised me in the photos contacting me and asking wtf was going on?!

I’m livid and want to know if I can take legal action against this person for defamation of character/slander? I tried following their profile link but it doesn’t seem to exist anymore or I’ve been blocked from it.

Can anyone help?

@falselyaccused

Sorry- I should've added I've written a post on the group with wording very similar to what Pps have suggested.

I've also contacted the admins to put a statement out renouncing the previous post.

Ah, good. Unnerving though to think that someone would do that. I'm sorry you had to go through it.

@Missmissmiiiiiiiiisss

Is there an admin for the group?

If so they do a responsibility to post an update/retraction.

Something like

You may have seen a post which included a photo of a woman having her bag searched. This post incorrectly said she had shop lifted.
We want to correct this and be clear that the woman in the photo did not steal anything and the alarm went off by accident and no crime was committed. We are horrified to have something inaccurate on our page and we apologise unreservedly to the lady in question.
Please can the admin team take this opportunity to remind group members to ensure they are clear of the facts before posting anything.

I second this, they have to take some responsibility for allowing an untrue and potentially libellous claim to be posted. As a PP who is an admin on a similar page said, the only source they should accept as official for that kind of thing is the police.

Ah sorry, just saw your update.

Completely agree with ChuckGarabedian, the admin of the FB group have to bear some responsibility here and I would be expecting a robust response with an immediate refutal and apology posted on the group. You would be within your rights to report the group to FB but it's probably fairer and more beneficial to you to allow them the opportunity to put this right before you go that route. This will be a major fuck-up if it's usually a well run group and they should be falling over themselves to put it right, they will know the group could be removed by FB if you did report it.

Can you ask the shop itself to comment on your post saying that what you say is true, that the alarm was not in any way activated by you stealing things?

I would expect admins to post a clarification and also block the ''person'' using the forum however I suspect by the name you have suggested, its a fake account to begin with.

Chances are its someone who has a beef with you too. If you cannot see that profile on FB now, it can mean they have blocked you so neither party can see what the other has posted. I have a couple of people blocked on my account for various reasons.

but def. pester Admin of the page to put up a retraction and apology. They should really have a clause in their page rules advising of a ''no naming no shaming'' policy anyhow.

I’d tell them you’re taking legal advice. Even if you aren’t. Put the wind up them a bit.

Same happened to me, I was accused of going round people's houses trying to facilitate a break in for the gang that apparently had followed me in plain sight. The real story is that I knocked on a neighbours door as my cat had jumped out and darted into their garden. The ridiculous thing is that she let me look around the garden and retrieve the cat, and was very polite and smiling, I thought we had quite a pleasant chat - and then she made up a story that I forced my way in, didn't speak or understand English, and was looking around for valuables in the house.

I was actually quite scared as people started posting about where I lived and threats about teaching me a lesson. The police wasn't interested much, but the post was taken down after I told admins that I will contact the police.

Is it a local enough shop that they would post for you with the correct information?

@HirplesWithHaggis

If you have a spare £100k or so, sue away. If not, you'll just have to wait for it all to blow over.

This. It’s very costly to prove and get a case in this area usually.

I would definitely create a post and explain what happened and how this person is completely out of order for taking a photo without even understanding what was going on and what the outcome was.

I’ve had my bag checked several times before and sometimes there’s been something with a security tag still attached that I’ve paid for. I’d never hear an alarm and assume someone had purposely stolen something - they’d be more clever than to steal something with a security tag.