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Waitrose has been urged to rehire an employee who was sacked after tackling a shoplifter for stealing Easter eggs. The supermarket is facing growing pressure to reinstate a long-serving employee who was dismissed after intervening to stop a shoplifter making off with a bag of Easter eggs from its Clapham Junction branch in south London. Walker Smith, 54, who had worked for the chain for 17 years, was sacked following the confrontation , in which he grabbed a bag of Lindt gold bunny Easter eggs, at £13 each, from a known repeat offender before a brief struggle ensued, the bag split and the thief fled. Shadow Home Secretary, Chris Philp, has now written directly to Waitrose boss, Tom Denyard, demanding Mr Smith be reinstated immediately, apologised to and awarded a bonus for what he described as bravery and initiative. TRENDING Stories Videos Your Say In his letter, Mr Philp argued that while government and police bore the primary responsibility for tackling shoplifting, store staff and members of the public should be supported, not penalised, for stepping in. He said Waitrose had "behaved disgracefully" by dismissing Mr Smith, and warned that sacking a long-serving employee in such circumstances sent entirely the wrong message at a time when retail theft was surging across the country, the Telegraph reports. The MP for Croydon South said the case reflected a wider and growing problem, adding that offenders were being left unchecked while those who acted to stop the crime were facing consequences instead. Mr Smith had told his managers before his dismissal that Waitrose was "like a family" to him. Mr Smith now fears he could lose his studio flat - the first home he has owned by himself, 25 years living with flatmates - telling reporters he was unsure what would happen next and that his confidence was "on the floor." However, a GoFundMe page has also been set up for the former Waitrose employee, where over £7,000 has been raised in just two days, to support him financially after his job loss. The unsung hero said staff had witnessed shoplifting "every hour of every day for the last five years" without being permitted to act. Waitrose has defended its decision, saying its policies existed to protect the safety of staff and customers and pointing to previous incidents in which employees had been hospitalised after challenging shoplifters. LATEST DEVELOPMENTS Hundreds of balaclava-clad youths descend on Milton Keynes in echo of Clapham chaos 'Violent and hostile' trespassers attack riot police during illegal Easter rave Fourth man arrested over Golders Green ambulance arson attack after being recognised by police A spokesman for the higher-end supermarket told GB News: "The safety and security of our Partners and customers couldn’t be more important to us, and we have policies in place to protect both. "We’ve had incidents where our Partners have been hospitalised when challenging shoplifters. Luckily, they have always recovered, but that might not always be the case. "There is a serious danger to life in tackling shoplifters. We refuse to put anyone’s life at risk and that's why we have policies in place that are very clearly understood and must be strictly followed. "As a responsible employer, we never want to be in a position where we are notifying families of a tragedy because someone tried to stop a theft. Nothing we sell is worth risking lives for." Waitrose has insisted the reporting on the case did not cover the full facts of the situation and said the correct process, including a standard appeals procedure, was being followed. Conservative leader, Kemi Badenoch, also weighed in on the broader debate. She said last month that she would be prepared to confront a shoplifter herself, warning that the public's reluctance to intervene had emboldened criminals into believing they could act without consequence. Nearly 520,000 shoplifting offences were recorded in England and Wales in the year to September 2025 - a five per cent rise on the previous year, according to the Office for National Statistics. Retail leaders have warned that thieves are operating with increasing brazenness, becoming more organised and more aggressive in their treatment of shop workers. Jo Causon of the Institute of Customer Service, which represents 350 UK businesses, said there had been no meaningful engagement from ministers on surging high street crime, describing it as a serious threat to economic growth. She said: "We've got a workforce that is really frightened about going to work, which is not okay." Retail theft is estimated to have cost British businesses £2billion last year, while more than 40 per cent of shop workers reported experiencing hostility or abuse in the past six months alone. Waitrose itself has previously campaigned for retail crime to be made a standalone criminal offence, arguing that more needs to be done to protect shop workers from increasingly emboldened offenders. Our Standards: The GB News Editorial Charter
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