Waitrose employee sacked after stopping shoplifter from taking Easter eggs

A Waitrose employee of 17 years has described his devastation after being sacked for stopping a shoplifter who had ransacked a display of Lindt Gold Bunny Easter eggs.

Walker Smith, a shop assistant at a branch of Waitrose in Clapham Junction, south London, was going about his normal duties when a customer stopped him. “They told me someone had filled up a Waitrose bag with the eggs,” he said.

The 54-year-old said the shoplifter was a repeat offender. After spotting the thief, he “grabbed the bag” from the shoplifter, who snatched it back and, he said, there was a struggle for a few seconds before it snapped. The Lindt Gold Bunny Easter eggs, which retail for £13 each, fell to the floor and the shoplifter made a dash for the exit. Smith said one of the bunnies broke into pieces. He picked a piece of the broken bunny and “threw it out of frustration” towards some shopping trolleys, not aiming it at the shoplifter, he said.

He was told off by his manager and apologised but the matter was escalated. Smith said he was previously told not to approach shoplifters but the toll of seeing them get away with theft repeatedly spurred him into action. “I’ve been there 17 years. I’ve seen it happen every hour of every day for the last five years,” he said.

“It’s everybody from drug addicts to teenagers nicking bits and bobs or walking out with bottles of wine in their arms. We’re not allowed to do anything.”

He said security had been scaled back in the shop, with no guards working on Mondays and Tuesday because “shoplifting incidents aren’t reported enough”. This left non-security staff, including Smith, on the frontline of the problem.

Despite this, Walker said he regretted how he acted. “When I got home I was punching myself and thinking ‘Why did I do that’,” he said.

After a few days, Walker was hauled into a meeting with two store managers. “I had a feeling about what was going to happen,” he said. He made a final plea, telling his bosses “Waitrose is like my family” but he was still dismissed.

“I tried to stay strong and I didn’t say a word but inside I was crying. They led me out the back door by the bins. I just felt demoralised,” he said. Walker is diagnosed with anxiety, which he said his managers were aware of.

He had recently moved into his own studio flat after living with flatmates for 25 years, before being sacked. He worries about how he will keep a roof over his head. “I’m not too sure what’s going to happen with this place now. I might be homeless. My confidence is on the floor right now,” he said.

“Waitrose is like my family. My friends are there. I was there for 17 years, I must have been doing something right. I’m not a bad or violent or aggressive person. I just got frustrated seeing this day in and day out and not seeing Waitrose do much about it.”

Retail businesses, particularly supermarkets, have seen an increase in shoplifting. In England and Wales, there were 519,381 shoplifting offences in the year to September 2025, up 5% from 492,660 the previous year, according to data from the Office for National Statistics.

These numbers are narrowly below the record levels seen in the 12 months to March 2025, when a total of 530,643 offences were recorded.

In February, retail trade union Usdaw said workers face “unacceptable” levels of violence and abuse, with “evidence showing that two-thirds of attacks on retail staff are being triggered by theft or armed robbery”.

On Friday, the chief executive of Marks & Spencer, Stuart Machin, called on the government and London’s mayor to crack down on retail crime, saying it has become “more brazen, more organised and more aggressive”.

A Waitrose spokesperson said: “We take the safety and security of our customers and our partners incredibly seriously and to do this we have policies in place which our partners are aware of and required to follow.

“In reference to the point on guarding – we make absolutely sure that our shops have appropriate levels of guarding and this is constantly adjusted according to the level of risk.”