National chain forced to apologise to Peebles teens

Published 11 Jun 2010 13:27 7 Comments

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ONE of the high street's largest chains has been forced to apologise to three teenagers from Peebles.

Staff at the local branch of Boots accused Sarah Brown, Karen Porteous and Maria-Lucia DeMartino of shoplifting.

And the three innocent 14-year-olds were subjected to around an hour's humiliation as they were detained in an office before being searched by cops and escorted home.

The parents of the girls were so incensed by the incident that they wrote letters of complaint to Boots' head office in Nottingham - and even sent back their Advantge store cards.

Letters of complaint were also sent to the Chief Constable of Lothian and Borders Police, David Strang, accusing his officers of being heavy handed.

This week Boots wrote to parents to apologise for the upset caused and explaining that a full report of the incident had been requested by the company's chief executive, Alex Gourlay.

The letter, from customer manager Iona Blake, stated: "It's simply inexcusable that this member of our team would find it appropriate to make this approach as a customer has to have exited the store before this can happen.

"I do not doubt that this was a most unpleasant experience for all of the girls. It is quite clear that they were innocent of any wrongdoing."

Staff at the Peebles branch were interviewed by their bosses over the incident - and internal action has been taken against one of them.

A spokeswoman for the pharmacy chain told the Peeblesshire News: "We are extremely sorry over the distress Sarah, her friends and their families have experienced.

"It was never our intention to cause Sarah or her friends such upset.

"We have consulted our colleagues involved in this incident. Shoplifting is a major issue for us and one that we take very seriously. Our colleagues do have to make difficult decisions on occasion when interpreting customers' actions and it is clear that they incorrectly interpreted the behaviour of Sarah and her friends at this time.

"We would like to assure our customers that we take customer care very seriously and are reviewing our policies and practices in store to ensure this does not happen again. We have personally contacted the parents to apologise and discuss this issue directly with them."

Sarah Brown and Karen Porteous went to Boots on Thursday, May 27, to buy some make-up.

When they entered the store they met Maria-Lucia DeMartino, who was hoping to spend her birthday money on new foundation and other items.

But within a few minutes the girls, who had tried shade samples on their hands, were led into a back office by a member of staff.

They were held without explanation for around 15 minutes without explanation.

Eventually two police cars - with four officers - arrived.

The girls were made to remove their shoes before being searched - with no items of make-up being found.

Sarah's mother, Alison, said: "Having found nothing on any of the girls, they put their shoes back on and the police took their details.

"They were made to apologise to the staff for causing bother and told that Boots had kindly let the matter drop.

On being escorted out of the shop and home in a police car, the girls were seen by many school acquaintances and neighbours, and the event was widely discussed by others at school the next day."

Further accusations have been made by the parents that the police officers continued to treat the girls as though they were guilty.

One officer is alleged to have stated that the teenagers were 'lucky not have been held for the six hours that they could have been' and an another told a parent that they 'now have their details'.

Lothian and Borders Police is currently investigating the complaint.

A spokesman for the force told us: "A complaint has been received and it is currently being looked into."

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Sensible
Unregistered User
Jun 13, 14:44
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What a load of rubbish.For a start - I believe that NO staff have been either interviewed OR spoken to by their bosses over this incident. Every week there are thousands of pounds worth of goods stolen from this shop.Hopefully this story will be a deterent to any would be shop lifters.

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Alison Brown
Unregistered User
Jun 13, 17:34
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Whoever wrote the above comment is just the type of person who stereotypes teenagers as all being thiefs.

I can assure you that Boots have wholeheartedly apologised in their letter to me & have at no time tried to defend their actions. The member of staff was mistaken and as it says in the report-NO ITEMS WERE FOUND ON ANY OF THE GIRLS. It is not legal to try to apprehend anyone until they have tried to leave the shop-even if they HAD something concealed. I have spoken to the area manager by phone and he has assured me that he was called in to the store to speak very seriously to the staff involved.

The article was put in the paper to clear the girls' names - if they had been guilty of any wrongdoing, do you really think that the parents would do this?

I am astounded at your ignorance.

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A.BROWN
Unregistered User
Jun 13, 20:23
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Further to my comment above-I would be happy to allow anyone who doubts the innocence of these girls to read for themselves the apology letter from Boot's -in which they say that the girls were quite clearly innocent. I have so far, only had an acknowledgement letter from the police but the same would apply.

I can only guess that the person writing the first comment has some sort of personal connection with the Boots staff involved?

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James Blonde
Unregistered User
Jun 14, 13:14
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I don't believe you can really blame Boots for trying to prevent shoplifting, however they haven't exactly covered themselves in glory by not following the correct process. They have at least publically apologised though!

The reaction of the police however seems absolutely OTT, and that is the one for which the girls deserve an apology!

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Forgot
Unregistered User
Jun 15, 12:23
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When im in a supermarket I always put my shopping under her buggy, in what could be considered a 'hidden' place - I somehow don't think that make me a shoplifter!

I know that these girls didn't have anything on them, but just for the hell of it i'd love to go into boots and shove a load of products in my pocket just to see how they react lol :)

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N. Saravolac
Unregistered User
Jan 30, 22:00
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Whilst the girls appear to be innocent, and before anybody jumps onto allegations of me saying the opposite, I am not, the attitude towards the police officers concerned make me laugh.

Let me throw an opinion in the mix.

As many people are aware cops work in pairs, so 2x police cars = 4 officers. As the number of 'suspects' outnumbers officers I am sure it is standard to send more resources for transport. It is also preferred by police to have women officers search fellow females, and likewises male on male...so if both pairs had one male and one female, where's the issue with having 2 female cops attend to search 3 girls?

As for the phrases used, the 6 hours could be used as a 'wake up call' or to put 'frighteners' on the girls. Secondly having their details? Do me a favour, are you actually trying to make them seem as sinister as the phrasing sounds?!

This is a small story being blown out of proportion, police bashing at it's finest as well. After all, there always has to be someone to blame.

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Annoyed
Unregistered User
Jul 20, 12:58
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Is this not snobby parenting at it's best? Of course a mother is never going to believe the apple of her eye to be guilty of anything, I am sure that if the polcie said those things to the girls and parents it was merely because they were getting mouthy towards them. The mother who wrote above strikes me as a know it all who can do no wrong and demands apology from all quarters. Get over yourself, if this was Edinburgh then nothing would ever be said, typical small town 'my image counts' rubbish. You got an apology and banged your drum, well done. I wonder having complained about the police you'd still be the first to call them for help afetr so quickly jumping to condemn them.

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