Sainsbury's bills man falsely accused of shoplifting

Emma Woollacott
Updated
Aidan Gould. Supermarket giant Sainsbury's has agreed to lift a ban on a shopper who was accused of stealing from the store. See NTI story NTIBAN. Aden Gould, aged 21, from Stoke, was prohibited from entering any Sainsbury's store in the country following an incident last week. He was later hit with a £150 fine for 'security fees' – despite proving he was not a shoplifter. Aden had been into the store to test out a set of Bluetooth speakers. He removed the item from its packaging before plugging it into his mobile phone. But was bundled into the manager's office after security staff believed he was pinching them. Now the supermarket has agreed to waive the £150 fine and lift the ban – following an official complaint.



A man who was falsely accused of shoplifting in Sainsbury's was shocked to be ordered to pay a £150 'security fee' and banned from all the company's stores in Britain.

Aden Gould, who is 21 and has learning difficulties, was examining two sets of Bluetooth speakers in a Stoke branch of the store. He opened two boxes and tested the contents with his mobile phone before replacing them and returning them to the shelf. The speakers were priced at £20 and £35.

"I went to the store to buy some speakers and plugged them into my phone," he tells the Stoke Sentinel. "But the first set didn't work and the second weren't very good so I put everything back in the boxes."

He was then accosted by security and frogmarched to the manager's office. Here, he was forced to empty his bag, and was immediately cleared of shoplifting.

"I was confused about what I'd done and I thought I was in trouble. I wanted to call my mum but they told me to put my phone away," he says.

"When I got outside I was really panicking. I was shaking all over."

However, the incident didn't end there, and Mr Gould was stunned to receive a bill from Sainsbury's demanding payment of a £150 'security fee', and telling him he was banned from all Sainsbury's stores.

GV of Sainsburys in Stoke, where the incident occurred. Supermarket giant Sainsbury's has agreed to lift a ban on a shopper who was accused of stealing from the store. See NTI story NTIBAN. Aden Gould, aged 21, from Stoke, was prohibited from entering any Sainsbury's store in the country following an incident last week. He was later hit with a £150 fine for 'security fees' – despite proving he was not a shoplifter. Aden had been into the store to test out a set of Bluetooth speakers. He removed the item from its packaging before plugging it into his mobile phone. But was bundled into the manager's office after security staff believed he was pinching them. Now the supermarket has agreed to waive the £150 fine and lift the ban – following an official complaint.



When his mother Petra visited the store to query the bill, she was told by a sales assistant that opening the boxes amounted to criminal damage. However, the company has since said that the bill was a mistake, and agreed to lift the ban.

There's no doubt that shoplifting is a serious problem for stores, which between them lost £511 million this way in 2013 - the highest figure in a decade. However, they are frequently accused of heavy-handedness.

Earlier this year, we reported on the case of Derek Greenhalgh, a 66-year-old army veteran, who was wrongly accused of shoplifting from his local Asda - in front of a shopful of people. Apparently, he'd been confused with a habitual thief, and Asda later apologised.

If you're ever stopped in this way, it's worth knowing your rights: you can ask to be dealt with in private, for example, and don't have to show the contents of your bag unless the police become involved. There's more information here.

What's Behind Tesco's Colossal Losses?
What's Behind Tesco's Colossal Losses?



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