The furore over two-tier policing intensified last night after a supermarket boss accused officers of treating a false claim of racism more seriously than rampant violence by shoplifters.
Iceland founder Sir Malcolm Walker says ‘two-tier policing isn’t just happening on the streets’ as he revealed cops rushed to one of his stores three minutes after a phoney accusation of racism was made against a shop supervisor.
The entrepreneur made a formal complaint to Scotland Yard after the Asian supervisor was handcuffed and dragged to a police car by officers who rushed to the scene when a black customer made a complaint of racism after being caught tampering with milk bottles.
In contrast, Sir Malcolm said, police often did not attend even when staff had been seriously hurt or threatened with violence by shoplifters.
He said he was moved to speak out following the furore over the murder of Henry Nowak, who was handcuffed by police as he lay dying after his killer falsely accused him of racist abuse.
Sir Malcolm said: ‘There is two-tier policing. It isn’t just happening on the streets. We had an incident in a store in Enfield.
‘This guy is taking milk bottles out of the fridge, opening them and putting them back, so a staff member remonstrated with him.
‘The next thing the guy is on his phone claiming he has been racially abused.
Furious Iceland founder Sir Malcolm Walker has claimed that ‘two-tier policing isn’t just happening on the streets’
The supermarket boss said police officers rushed to one of his Iceland stores three minutes after a phoney accusation of racism was made against a shop supervisor
Pictured: CCTV footage of the incident, where police were called to a bogus racism claim after a shoplifting allegation in Enfield Town, London
The Iceland worker was handcuffed and dragged to a police car by officers when a black customer made a complaint of racism after being caught tampering with milk bottles
Is the police too quick to act on accusations of racism while ignoring rising violence against shop staff?
‘Three minutes later a police car arrives and they immediately handcuff our member of staff.
‘This member of staff was taken away for two or three hours before the matter was dropped.
‘What a terrible over-the-top reaction – it was madness. Why did they feel the need to handcuff him and put him in a police car on an unfounded allegation?’
He added: ‘Every week we have reports of violence – members of staff being punched, threatened with a hypodermic needle or knife. It is out of control.
‘They do not bother most of the time ringing the police because it doesn’t seem to make a difference.
‘Violence against shop staff is rampant. Never in a million years would police be there in three minutes for that.’
Sir Malcolm’s complaint was investigated by the force and the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime but it was not upheld.
A Met Police spokesman said: ‘We police London without fear or favour and strive to serve all communities equally. All operational decisions are grounded in legal principles.’
He added that after the incident in Enfield a man in his 20s was arrested on suspicion of a public order offence.
