Western Daily Press (Saturday)
Woman doing good deed accused of theft by M&S
AWOMAN was “horrified” after being grabbed by police and accused of theft at an M&S store – after trying to return presents for her 93-year-old friend.
Roxana Shirazi says the “mistake” led to her being confronted by multiple officers and falsely accused of stealing.
The journalist and author from Bristol visited the Marks & Spencer store in Cribbs Causeway last Saturday at 9.15am.
She was helping her friend Roy, 93, to return Christmas presents from his family and hoped to obtain either a voucher or exchange for a cardigan and jacket.
She said: “He just wanted to exchange the gifts, which had tags on, but did not have a receipt, as he was embarrassed and didn’t want his family to know.
“So I walked in with a bag filled with his things, went to the cashier and explained the siutation.
“She scanned them and told me the items had never been purchased as there had “never been a purchase history”.
Roxana was left confused and decided to walk away to give the items back to Roy, but before she could leave the store, she said she was “grabbed” by a security guard who accused her of stealing them.
Roxana said: “I told him to look at the CCTV which showed me walking into the store with the bag of items.
“He said to me I had stolen them before and brought them back into the store to get money for them.
“I tried to explain the situation but he said it was theft and he was going to call the police.”
As Roxana tried to leave the store, she recalled being “grabbed” by two policemen. “It was so embarrassing,” she added.
“I even got them them to talk to Roy on the phone and he said honestly they were given to me by my kids but they didn’t believe him.
“I was stood there for ages with people watching. It was so horrible and mortifying.
“The police took the stuff off me and wouldn’t give it back. They took my address and name.
“They were calling me a thief and said they were going to come and investigate me - it was so upsetting.”
A day later Roxana received a call from M&S admitting they had “made a mistake” and there had not been any shoplifting.
She was shocked that they would not apologise to her, given the trauma of the whole event.
The affair has left Roxana wondering if this has happened to other people before when taking back a gift.
She believes it exposes a flaw in the store’s return policy.
She said: “Apparently they found out that sometimes purchase history doesn’t come up on some items but the staff at M&S should know that and not make such serious allegations.
“Roy hasn’t been well. He felt embarrassed to say to his kids he wanted to exchange some items.
“Sometimes you don’t want to do that to people who have given you a gift.”
A spokesperson from M&S said: “We are investigating and have contacted
They were calling me a thief and said they were going to come and investigate me ROXANA SHIRAZI
Roxana directly to apologise for her experience.”
Avon and Somerset police said: “We were called to Cribbs Causeway, in Bristol, on Saturday, January 6 following an allegation of theft from a shop.
“Officers attended and approached a woman in her 50s outside the Mall, where they explained the reason they had stopped her and discussed with her the allegation which had been made. Officers asked the woman to give them the items while enquiries were carried out.
“They spoke with representatives from the shop, who could not confirm any offence of theft.
“Officers subsequently made contact with the woman to return the items to her.
“No further action will be taken as no crime has been identified.”