A Sainsbury’s employee has allegedly been fired after tackling a shoplifter who was attempting to steal bottles of champagne.
Gary MacArthur, who worked at the supermarket’s West Wickham branch as a shop assistant for 15 years, was fired in March following the altercation in December 2025, LBC reported.
At the time of the incident, no security guard was on shift due to them previously being taken to hospital after suffering a suspected stroke.
MacArthur said that as he was preparing to finish his shift, he heard his colleagues speaking of an “aggressive champagne thief”.
According to LBC, the shoplifter was a repeat offender who regularly targeted the store for high-end bottles of champagne.
MacArthur is understood to have confronted the individual and physically escorted him from the store. However, they proceeded to re-enter the store and began smashing bottles, allegedly throwing two in the direction of MacArthur’s manager and another colleague.
As the individual continued to take more bottles, a customer and MacArthur restrained him to the floor until police arrived at the scene.
Three months later, MacArthur was dismissed for gross misconduct, after failing to observe the supermarket’s guidance on “prevent[ing] incidents”.
It is understood Sainsbury’s had previously given him a written warning and extra training around the policy after MacArthur has challenged another attempted shoplifter earlier in the year.
He appealed Sainsbury’s decision on the latest matter and had a hearing in April, however this was unsuccessful.
It is understood MacArthur’s decision to escort the man from the store was deemed as escalating the situation.
A Sainsbury’s spokesperson said: “We are seeing incidents of violence, aggression and theft happening in our stores on a daily basis, threatening the safety of colleagues and customers.
“We are responding by investing in extra security measures, ensuring addressing this issue remains a government priority and sharing intelligence with police forces around the country, not asking our colleagues to put their safety on the line by tackling offenders.
“That’s why our guidance to colleagues on responding to retail crime prioritises keeping everyone in our stores safe and is specifically designed to prevent incidents from escalating.”
It is not the first case of this kind in recent months. In April, a Waitrose employee who had worked for the business for 17 years was fired for tackling a shoplifter who was attempting to steal Easter eggs.
Meanwhile, a Morrisons store manager who had worked for the supermarket for nearly three decades was sacked following an incident in early December.
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