A Tesco shopper assaulted a staff member after he went berserk when was not able to purchase some cheese.
The man allegedly entered the store in Plymouth where he walked to the cheese aisle, selected some products and then approached the checkout.
He tried to pay, however he did not have enough money, so assaulted the staff worker by throwing coins at them.
The man also damaged a door before he left the Tesco Express store on Cobourg Street.
The man also damaged a door before he left the Tesco Express store on Cobourg Street
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Devon and Cornwall Police are now hunting for the man, releasing a CCTV image of the suspect to the public.
In a statement, the force said: “Police are appealing for the public’s help identifying this man following an assault and criminal damage in Plymouth.
“It was reported that between 12.15pm and 12.20pm on 14 January 2025 a man entered Tesco Express in Cobourg Street in Plymouth.
“He tried to purchase some cheese and when he did not have enough money, he assaulted a staff member by throwing coins.
“The man then damaged a door as he left the store. It is believed the man pictured may be able to help police with their enquiries.
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“We are aware the image is not of the highest quality, but it is all we have available at this time.
“Anybody with information is asked to call police on 101 or visit our website quoting 50250010290.”
A recent survey from the British Retail Consortium (BRC) has revealed that nearly a quarter of Britons have seen retail workers subjected to physical or verbal abuse over the past year.
As criminals become “bolder and more aggressive”, 23 per cent of respondents said they had witnessed incidents of abuse towards retail workers.
The man did not have enough money to pay for the cheese (file pic)
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Verbal and physical attacks, violent threats, and sexual and racial abuse in shops rocketed to more than 2,000 incidents a day.
This is up from 1,300 the previous year and more than three times the 2020 figure.
Helen Dickinson, the chief executive of the BRC, said: “Retail crime is spiralling out of control. People in retail have been spat on, racially abused, and threatened with machetes.
“Every day this continues, criminals are getting bolder and more aggressive. We owe it to the three million hardworking people working in retail to bring the epidemic of crime to heel. No one should go to work in fear.”