She was not no- but that's only from my begging not to get her involved. I did tell them she had mental health issues and they tried their best to drag her into it, but I refused. No doubt I will probably be extortionately charged for it! P.S. Thank you for the welcome!

Hi all - thank you very much for all your assistance! It sounds like proving necessary force will be a slippery slope and a battle I won't win. I must say, I covered the riots and the protests over the cuts and I haven't come across such relish for violence as I have seen with shop security and nightclub doormen! Thugs with a license I guess... Can I ask if anyone has any information on this: lossprevention dot co dot uk Court%20Cases dot aspx I'm looking at particular at the second case listed: Theft/conversion of fragrance £63. Escaped from store, discarding item, that was subsequently recovered and fit for resale. One security officer dealt with the matter and reported to management. Defendant denied the claim, and sent in pro-forma correspondence taken from a consumer forum. At the trial it was argued that there was no loss to the Claimant as the goods were recovered. It was also argued that the security officer did nothing other than what he was paid for and that the security officer would have been paid, irrespective of whether the Defendant stole the store’s goods or not. It was alleged that he had been dealt with in the Criminal Justice system and it was not fair to have a civil claim against him and that he could not afford to pay the damages sought. It was argued that the security equipment and overheads were already installed for other purposes such as health and safety and it could not therefore be attributable to his theft. The Judge, applying Aerospace (case law), accepted the extent of the diversion of the security officer’s time dealing with the incident, and the work required thereafter, including the civil recovery notice. He held that this amounted to significant disruption to the Claimant’s business. He accepted the Claimant’s evidence as to the value of that diversion. The Judge, applying Salvadori (case law), also accepted that the Defendant should be accountable to the Claimant for a proportion of the security and administration costs sought. He accepted that the actual losses exceeded the nominal fixed sum sought and that it was therefore recoverable. The Judge found that whilst the security equipment and staff may well be used in connection with issues such as health and safety, a substantial part of that is because of theft, at a cost to the Claimant, which it would otherwise not have.

Oh tell me about it! Far more journalists in bed with big business than I like to think about. Apologies on behalf of my profession! Is there a risk of them retrospectively charging me with a crime if I ask for the footage do you know?

Would you be able to send me the link? I've been looking for it far and wide and not had any luck...

Does anyone know how media might affect an ongoing case with RLP? I shoplifted in Primark. I'm not proud by any stretch. I'm not justifying my actions but I was with my sister who has mental health issues and I wanted to give her things that at that very moment I couldn't afford. It was weak and I am ashamed. They stopped me at the door asking me to come with them. I demanded to know what for and protested, I was with my sister and I didn't want her to see these things. I turned to walk away when they grabbed me from behind pulling me to the floor. Two men grabbed me ( a woman) and marched me to the back room. One of them said 'cause a fuss and I will put you in hospital'. In the back room I came clean immediately. They were aggressive and physically threatening. One woman went thru my bag which had my gym kit in it and said I was disgusting as she picked up my gym joggers. All I wanted was to get out and I did eventually. I am going to receive a letter from RLP soon which I probably will fight. I am however a journalist from a national newspaper. Caring for my family has left me a bit strapped for cash but I shouldn't have done what I did. Nevertheless I felt their treatment was disgraceful over a matter of £7 accessories. Heavy handed security people are rife at the moment, destroying london's nightlife and stores, prejudicial and aggressive. I want to expose this but I'm not sure of the legality of physically touching people. I'm also not sure if it could affect the size of my fine with RLP and my credit rating. Could anyone offer some advice?