Fight in Sainsburys this afternoon (January 03) (Lounged)

[sawyerphin]

.

[ckophotography]

I was there with my boyfriend- who rushed to see if he could help- but we couldn't see what exactly happened.

One of the staff at the meat counter was shouting that someone had run into the back stock area and then we saw that about a dozen bottles of wine had been knocked off a shelf in the alcohol section and police and staff were sectioning the area off. When we left there was a police van plus about 4 cars and a policeman saying something about GBH and carrying a roll of police tape...

Anyone know anything more?

[sophiesofa]

Blimey, I only saw the aftermath of smashed wine bottles and police tape and lots of police officers. I didn't see any blood so that's a good sign I spose.

[georgina]

We saw most of the attack, some men/boys started fighting with each other at the end of the spirits isle, one of the boys either fell, or was pushed, into a display of wine bottles at the end of the isle. One of the 'attackers' began to hit the boy on the ground with a bottle, the second 'attacker' then appeared to start stabbing the boy on the ground with a piece of broken bottle or some other object. At this stage a very brave woman stepped in and started screaming at the boys and pushed the lads away from the kid on the ground (very possibly saving his life). Then some other customers appeared to break things up and all the lads ran off. This all happened in the space of a few seconds.

I was at the oil section whilst this was happening and moments after 3 lads dashed passed me into the staff exit by the meat counter (hence the meat counter man shouting).

Rather oddly Sainsbury's made an announcement just before all this happened and grabbed everyone?s attention by saying over the PA system "can all staff move to the back of the store" so I wonder if there was something going on elsewhere in the store beforehand...

The police then arrived and were rather bemused to see the Sainsbury's staff had started to clean up the crime scene! However they did take statements from witnesses and got some blood from the floor...

All very dramatic, rather worryingly the Sain's staff had very little clue as what to do in this sort of situation and didn't make any announcement to reassure customers or clear the store.

I was very sad to see very small children having witnessed the attack very upset afterwards.

All in all a very unpleasent thing to witness on a sunday afternoon in a supermarket.

[womanofdulwich]

I was at the checkout -it was pretty scary as the guys involved ran back into the shop at one stage, and all the cashiers machines were frozen-I was surprised at how many plain clothes security people were there though.

[monica]

Any other information on the brave woman who stepped in? Hopefully the injured boy is ok.

[PeckhamRose]

I'm sure all the 'facts' will be in South London Press. yeah right.

I agree, the woman who stepped in sounds amazing.

[summerjt]

Couldn't believe this when I read it. I've lived in the area for a while and have never seen or heard of any such occurrence at the Sainsburys. How absolutely dreadful. Hope everyone is OK. I'd be very interested to hear the details, as and when they come out.

[JamesG]

georgina Wrote:

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> All very dramatic, rather worryingly the Sain's

> staff had very little clue as what to do in this

> sort of situation and didn't make any announcement

> to reassure customers or clear the store.

What are you talking about?

Do you really think an announcement would reassure people?

Do you think staff should have ?dealing with stabbing training??

I too was in the store just after the incident and think they (police and Sainsbury?s) did a good job of down playing the situation which is exactly what it needed.

[georgina]

JamesG Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> georgina Wrote:

> --------------------------------------------------

>

> What are you talking about?

> Do you really think an announcement would reassure

> people?

> Do you think staff should have ?dealing with

> stabbing training??

>

> I too was in the store just after the incident and

> think they (police and Sainsbury?s) did a good job

> of down playing the situation which is exactly

> what it needed.

Yes I do think an announcement would have been useful - asking customers to avoid the isle or to bear with them whilst they dealt with a situation that had arisen in the store.

And I do also think that a small bit of training would have aided staff in dealing with the situation.

i.e - dont mop up blood or throw away the weapon at a crime scene.

Both of which they did much to the policewoman?s horror.

This was a very distressing crime to witness for all in the store yesterday.

[PeckhamRose]

I am also surprised that shops, and specially supermarkets of the size of Sainsbury's, do not do announcements, or training of its staff in basic first aid or common sense... They probably thought it was red wine...

I am First Aid trained and I most definitely would have also told the staff to leave the evidence and moved people away.

[nunheadchick]

I agree that there appeared to be a lack of training of the staff as I was there too.........one of the staff members was walking around shouting in a panic that there has been a major incident in front of some very scared customers with small children.

[EmmaG]

Nine posts till contributors on the Forum start arguing about this event. Why do people have to engage in arguments on the Forum?

[KidKruger]

EmmaG - I think it's just the medium of internet / threads. You aren't there stood in front of the people you're talking with and because it's written down it's a target for being picked apart and the semantics, meaning, grammer and content questioned. Stood in a pub (say) most people wouldn't pick comments apart in the same way or argue so blatantly because they would look silly. Posters can sort of hide behind their anonymity IMO.

[ClareC]

drives me round the bend too, it seems there are people that just want to pick arguments and belittle others (general observation not personal to this thread or its contributors.

[JamesG]

I agree but realise that I may be the person who is seen to be argumentative.

Whilst I get bored with people picking arguments too (EDF is from my experience more like ED Sarcasm or Clique) I think there are several ridiculous points being made in this thread. Surely the point of the forum is to share opinions and experiences.

I was in Sainsburys and there was no need to ?reassure people?. I witnessed no panic just people getting on with their shopping sadly disinterested in the crime just committed.

BTW PeckhamRose Sainsbury will have had a trained first aider on site (I believe this may be a legal requirement)

I agree that staff shouldn?t have cleaned the crime scene but without a more serious incident I doubt the police would be dispatching CSI at all let alone one within 24 hours. (its not like the telly)

A sadly common event in London doesn?t need EDF melo-drama and indignance.

[MrsMc]

The brave lady is none other than my cleaner, Nikki, who tried to protect the man being attacked with help from an off duty policewoman. She is absolutely tiny and so brave to have intervened as she did - I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have had the guts to get so physically involved. I always knew she had a heart of gold but clearly she's also as brave as they come!

It must have been a truly horrendous attack - she's had to throw away the clothes she was wearing due to the fact they were covered in blood. If Sainsbury's doesn't train its staff (particularly the security guards) to deal with these kind of incidents then it's time they did. I wasn't there, but it seems that the security guards and other staff stayed well away whilst Nikki and the policewoman fended off the attackers. If it were not for their intervention, this could well have been a murder incident.

I'm pleased to say that Nikki got away with some minor cuts but I think it will take a while for the shock to wear off.

[sophiesofa]

Wow what a lady Nikki is, I'm glad she's ok.

I don't think a security guards job should involve breaking up fights since they could end up seriously injured, they are probably trained not to intervene but to call the police. Sorry that was slightly off topic and I'm just speculating.

[MrsMc]

Sophie, maybe you're right - Nikki put herself at real risk by intervening and was v lucky to come out of it unharmed. Perhaps unfair to expect others to do the same - esp as I couldn't see myself getting stuck in, even though I'm from Leeds:)

[Domitianus]

sophiesofa Wrote:

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> Wow what a lady Nikki is, I'm glad she's ok.

>

> I don't think a security guards job should involve

> breaking up fights since they could end up

> seriously injured, they are probably trained not

> to intervene but to call the police. Sorry that

> was slightly off topic and I'm just speculating.

Then they should be called "Observer/Telephonists" rather than Security Guards.

[legalbeagle]

Good on Nikki, and the policewoman, they are true heros. We all like to think we'd help someone in real trouble but I bet few of us are as brave as them. I hope they recover from the shock, it must have been really traumatic. Someone undoubtedly owes their son's life to these two brave women!

[chica1]

Security guards are just that, they are there to provide a secure environment be it against shoplifters, fights, nuances, etc.

They are trained for such role and if the Sainsburys's SGs are not then they should not be employed.

[Domitianus]

chica1 Wrote:

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> Security guards are just that, they are there to

> provide a secure environment be it against

> shoplifters, fights, nuances, etc.

>

> They are trained for such role and if the

> Sainsburys's SGs are not then they should not be

> employed.

I agree, although I have to say I am most concerned at the prevalence of nuances in the High Street these days. Just the other day I encountered a nuance that, had it not been for swift intervention by a Community Warden, might have become an insinuation.

[sophiesofa]

Fair enough and thatnks for the clarification, I just thought it might be a case of there is a significant risk to themselves, in this case glass as a weapon, then they would have to wait for the police. I hope they get paid well!

[chica1]

In US, security guards in depots or warehouses (B&Q, Homebase equivalent in UK) even have guns (not that I want same practice here). But that role is taken very seriously and those guards are also totally alert.

I've observed some SGs in Sainsburys sometimes and they are yawning, dragging their feet, staring at a distance, I feel like making this point to Justin King (CEO) actually...and same goes with the cashiers who more often than not have long faces and rude.