Merseyside Police accused of 'trivialising' poverty with social media post

Merseyside Police posted an image of the Greggs sandwich on social media

A police social media post highlighting the theft of a sandwich made "a spectacle of someone's desperation", a poverty charity has said.

Merseyside Police posted on X, formally known as Twitter, they had apprehended someone for stealing a "delicious warm chicken baguette".

The post was viewed more than 60,000 times before eventually being deleted.

Kensington-based charity The Big Help Project said the post "trivialised" poverty for "social media humour".

The post said: "Theft of any nature will not be tolerated in our city. We have this morning arrested a male on suspicion of the theft of this delicious warm chicken baguette after a store made us aware that the suspect had just left without paying for it."

In a letter to Merseyside police and crime commissioner Emily Spurrell, Big Help Project chief executive Peter Mitchell said the comments were "insensitive", the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

He said: "We work with the hope that the institutions designed to protect those people have as much concern for their wellbeing as we do.

"From the tweet published by Merseyside Police on 20 November, this doesn't seem to be the case.

"To make a spectacle of somebody's desperation has the potential to contribute to a highly dismissive and critical public perception of those experiencing poverty."

Police and crime commissioner Emily Spurrell acknowledged the concerns around food poverty

The former Labour councillor added how the force's online post, although deleted, would not fully disappear from public view and could have lasting consequences.

He wrote: "The permanence of social media not only opens that single person to be subjected to widespread ridicule but extends its cruelty to the thousands who are suffering under that same hunger and desperation."

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Ms Spurrell responded saying: "While the message was intended to raise awareness of the impact of shoplifting and retail crime, it is recognised that the cost-of-living crisis has had a huge impact on our communities and no one in our society should need to steal in order to eat.

"In light of these sensitivities, the post was deleted.

"While stealing can never be condoned, the theft of food is a sign an individual is in desperate need and it's vital we do everything to support the most vulnerable and treat them with empathy."

She said the force was engaged with the retail industry to "try and ensure those in food poverty are directed to support services where appropriate".

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