14 year old falsely accused of shoplifting

[Goggleb0x]

Yesterday my 14 year old niece and her friend were falsely accused of shoplifting in her local corner shop. The shopkeeper questioned the girls in front of other customers and insisted on searching my nieces bag and blazer. Nothing was found as she wasn’t shoplifting. She was mortified understandably.
The way this was handled feels off to me and I just wondered what procedure the shopkeeper should have followed. Are they legally allowed to detain and search children without them having an adult present? I have a daughter the same age and I realise that I wouldn’t know our rights in this position but I’d definitely want to go round and give them a piece of my mind. A quick Google hasn’t been able to answer my question. Can anyone enlighten me please?

[User1979289]

It's a grey area. they will have teenage shoplifters in stealing all the time and be out of their minds with frustration. I'd just drop it and never use the shop again. Your daughter had a scare that is common to teenagers (happened to me 2x!) and should be reassured and move on imo.

[sleekcat]

Something similar happened to my son a little while back but he only told me about it last week. Apparently he was in Sports Direct with a friend and he was told to open his bag on the way out. He didn't seem that bothered but I was really annoyed about it.

[Goggleb0x]

Yeah I’m sure they must be very frustrated. I just felt maybe they should have given the girls chance to call their parents if they wanted to search their belongings or have taken them somewhere quiet.

[Goggleb0x]

sleekcat glad I’m not the only one that feels annoyed about something like this. Maybe also because it’s was her school bag and blazer, all her private belongings.
if I was to come face to face with someone stealing stuff from the garage I work at I don’t know what I’d do either. It just got me thinking. I can’t quite explain why it particularly bugs me.

[2dogsandabudgie]

What did he think they had stolen? At my local shop which is near a secondary school they only allow so many pupils in at once and bags have to be left at the door.

[Goggleb0x]

I don’t know. My niece had a packet of biscuits in her hand but changed her mind and put them back. This shop is by a secondary school also.
I thought there might be guidelines to be adhered to when dealing with suspected shoplifting by youngsters. Maybe not, it would explain why I can’t find anything on Google.

[prh47bridge]

If the shop has reasonable grounds to suspect someone of shoplifting, they are entitled to detain them. "This is a teenager and we've had a lot of teenagers stealing stuff" is not reasonable grounds. There must be something more than that.

They cannot search your bags or your pockets without your consent. However, if you do not consent, they can detain you until a police officer arrives. The police officer will then be able to search regardless of your consent.

The above applies regardless of age. An appropriate adult is only required if the police interview the suspected shoplifter.

[Goggleb0x]

prh47bridge thanks very much, that’s cleared that up perfectly.