erm correction to last post as keyboard is rubbish - 30 DAYS. Not 3. You've till got time hahaha 3 days is just crazy, sorry about that hahaha

You have a right to see any CCTV footage of you which is taken in public places. It all depends if M+S class thier land as 'public' or not. If it is, write a letter to the store manager (refer to them as Data Controller in the letter) and ask to see footage of you and your car at this time (although am not sure if this rule applies to the car or if it's just you). Do it soon as the footage is usually erased after 3 days on a loop DVR System. Send it recorded delivery also so you have evidence you sent it with a witness countersigning the letter. The store will then have a set amount of time to invite you in to the store to view footage and they will either make you sign a Data Protection Document or they will erase the faces of all the people from the video... probably the former though. PLEASE BEAR IN MIND I HAVEN'T BEEN A CCTV OPERATOR FOR ABOUT A YEAR SO THIS RULE MAY HAVE CHANGED. Definitely look into it though.

Agreed. Completely Agreed. Reason being, were they in-house security or contractors? If in-house, I'd take Asda for all they have to offer as they have a responsibility to employ people who arent pigs. If contract, it's a bit trickier. If they have any sense, they'll have got wind of this and sacked the guy therefore cutting loose all obligation or liability for his actions. Again, I'd go for Asda as they shouldn't use dodgy contract firms. The crux of it is - settle your mortgage and have a merry christmas. Don't go to the media - I always find that tacky lol

In shops like Boot, FYI, the Guards have arrest targets per week due to the high amounts of loss the store suffers. So they have to 'sit on their lazy backsides in the CCTV office' rather than deter or else they get sacked. And 'additional training' is worthless, you can sit someone down and tell them the theory of arrest but actually doing it is another thing altogether and many guards lack the practical training, I agree but not all are the same so please don't tar them all with the same brush. If this girl used hair mousse and then bought a different can, it is still theft as they cant resell the item and she did technically walk out with it in her hair so it is theft. HOWEVER, while 93 quid is extortionate, I have to say that Guards ARE NOT ALLOWED to allow accused people pay for items they have been caught with. I've never agreed with this but they are just NOT ALLOWED unfortunately. If it was me, I'd have given her a banning letter from Boots and left it at that, dependent on the girls attitude throughout the detainment. But I do agree as long as it's not a blanket statement disparaging all Retail Guards, that there are far too many out there who think they are coppers and they give the rest a bad name. I should know, I've worked with a few of them.

@caledfwlch This is a silly response. Every thief tells the security officer, whether they are bang to rights or not, that they are innocent. Then they think assaulting the security officer when resisting arrest is an excellent idea as they reckon they aren't doing anything wrong. Also, 'wait outside the store'?! Yeah, I'll let all the thieves wait outside for the coppers to arrive outside 3 hours later and they'll be standing there like good little children. I think not. Acting illegally is never right... as for getting revenge - I wouldn't take the advice of this cagger, he obviously has no clue. At the end of the day, and I can only speak from when I was a guard, they wouldn't arrest you without good reason and if you're innocent you should just go along with it and your innocence will be established. I never had a false arrest and I arrested 200 people IN A YEAR. It's only the bent guards who'll arrest someone innocent and if that's the case there are LEGAL ways out of it. Never 'resist' or 'fight' an arrest - you will be arrested for assault if it's shown that you caused violence first. As for writing your details down for the police.... I wouldn't. If you are innocent and they don't have anything on you, let the police take you to the station - without evidence they'll have to let you go. But in my experience, the police have always handed details back to me bearing in mind though that I never had to request innocent people's details as I was good and lawful at my job. If you are guilty and you don't give your details... Prepare to be arrested. Guards dont have the time and resources to try and persuade it out of you when the police could search you (guards cant do this) and get the info within minutes.

Hello. I don't know the ins and outs here and I am just butting in but I used to be retail security and now I'm an SIA Trainer so I may know a couple of useful things?? If you did steal or even mistakenly walked out with the items without paying.... it makes no difference to the guards. If it was a genuine mistake, you were still committing theft in their eyes and while you may be telling the truth about your forgetfullness... they cant decide that. When I worked in retail, I arrested 15 people plus a day... if I listened to all their excuses, I'd have let them all off and lost my job. So please bear this in mind if that's the case. (sounds harsh but i really am trying to help.) If you have a medical reason for your transgression, explain this to the RLP and they generally listen, as I said, dont plead with the security guard or store as you are guilty to them, even if it was a genuine mistake. (I've repeated this because it's unfortunately true.) If however, it was wrongful detention (as in you were detained in a small room etc), you broke no laws and had no stolen items on your person at the time of arrest then you can sue the guard for wrongful detention. Again, I will stress that you will be suing the guard, not the shop, as his company and his place of work would most likely sack them rather than be dragged up into the charges. So think about this as you may be inadvertantly wrecking someones livelihood. (although if they are a rubbish guard who cant do thier job properly, i'd rather you did this as I train them the correct way and there are too many still thinking they are police.) Finally, if they mentioned they have caught anything on CCTV, write a letter to the store manager (but call them the Data Controller in your letter) and ask to see footage of you... do it quickly at footage is not kept for more than a month - and within a certain time frame (which I cant remember off the top of my head) they MUST allow you to see the footage. Everyone has this right but few know it - if you are in a public place and not private land, you can ask to see footage of yourself - even footage of you walking down the street if you so choose. Do this. They will then have to amend the footage so it conforms to Data Protection but otherwise they will eventually have to show it you. I'd also send it recorded delivery so you have evidence you sent the letter. Anyway, I'm grasping at straws because I dont know what went on so feel free to message if you need.