A mother from bury has accused a security guard at The Range of assault.
Abbie Murray was enjoying Christmas bargains at the newly opened store with her 5-month-old baby and 11-year-old stepson when the incident occurred on Saturday 27 November.
Murray, from Bury, who took to Facebook to share her ordeal, says she spent £25 at the till.
However, she had made the common mistake of forgetting to give the checkout operator two packets of paracetamol, that she’d placed on her sons pram.
The next thing she knew, she had 2 security guards, one male and one female, stop her and accuse her of shoplifting.
She said “I did not try to conceal or hide these items… it was an honest mistake.”
The security guards asked to search her bags to which she agreed, and then was told she would receive a lifetime ban and asked to hand over her ID.
Upon complying with this, the female security guard began taking pictures of Murray’s ID.
Because of this, she asked for her ID back and for the guard to delete the images.
The male security guard then began saying he was detaining her and accused Murray of spitting in his face, which she says is not true.
She says that she shouted: “Please, let go of me, I’ll come with you. I can’t leave my baby.”
Murray says he told her that he ‘didn’t care about her f****** children.’
By then, two other guards are said to have intervened and instructed him to let her go.
She said: “I was in shock and physically couldn’t breathe from the force he’d been dragging me.
“Something needs to be done.”
Managers offered Murray and her family a free lunch from the in-store café, though she says it isn’t enough after she and her 11-year-old son have been left ‘traumatised’.
The Range said “Following an incident in our Bury store on Saturday 27 November a customer was stopped by our store detectives, the safety of our customers and staff is of paramount importance, especially during this challenging time.
“The matter is being investigated internally and has been reported to the police, we will work with them to provide any further information that they require.”
