Shop guard held after vodka thief falls on bottle and dies

A SECURITY guard was arrested on suspicion of manslaughter yesterday after a shoplifter he tackled bled to death because vodka bottles hidden under his top shattered and injured him.

Onlookers said the shoplifter was seen ‘walking pretty fast’ with something hidden up his top when there was a scuffle.

Police arrested the 20-year-old Mitie security guard at his home in Trowbridge, Wiltshire, following the altercation outside a Sainsbury’s supermarket in the town on Thursday.

The 30-year-old thief was a homeless man from Cornwall who died of ‘significant injury’ in the car park of The Shires shopping complex. Neither the guard nor the dead man have been identified.

Witness Harriet Greenshields, 27, said: ‘The guy had something in his top as he was running so I assumed he was a shoplifter. Then there was a scuffle and the boy must have tripped or something as the security guard went to detain him and he just fell over. Once he was on the floor I didn’t see because there were so many people stood round.’

Police and paramedics arrived but the man died at the scene. Yesterday DCI Jeremy Carter, of Wiltshire police, said: ‘The man arrested tackled the suspected shoplifter causing a number of glass bottles he was concealing to smash. This caused a significant injury.’

Local residents hit out at the arrest of the security guard. On Facebook, Ben Clinch added: ‘Police should careful what message they give out to other criminals.’ Sam Morris wrote: ‘It’s very simple – the guy shouldn’t have been stealing.’