Gateshead shop worker recalls attack after face mask challenge

When shop worker Ian Robson reminded a group of customers they had to wear face coverings due to Covid-19, he did not expect to be attacked at work.

The assault at Nisa in Coatsworth Road, Gateshead, on 13 September, left Mr Robson shaken and suffering facial wounds after being punched.

"I'm presuming it was a knuckleduster, because it was shiny and silver and it hurt," he said.

The assailant, who ran off, has never been caught.

The attacked happened shortly after Mr Robson spoke to four young people who came into the shop who were not wearing masks.

Minutes after they left, a man came in and struck him.

Northumbria Police said it did not believe it was an attempted robbery, adding it could have been linked to an earlier "verbal altercation".

Mr Robson is exempt from wearing a mask

"This man ran into the shop, tried to pull me over the counter, punched me once in the eye, punched me once again in the head," said Mr Robson, who is exempt from wearing a face covering because he has asthma and anxiety.

He wears a sunflower lanyard to make people aware of his hidden disability.

While the physical wounds have healed, Mr Robson, who has worked happily at the store for more than 10 years, has been left scared.

"At one point I didn't want to come back but I didn't want to be seen as a victim, letting the person feel as if he chased me away from my job."

'Kick head in'

A survey by the shop workers' union Usdaw of more than 2,000 retail staff revealed that 76% reported receiving worse abuse during the Covid-19 pandemic.

It found that 85% experienced verbal abuse, 57% were threatened and 9% had been assaulted. Its final results will be published next year.

Some workers in the North East said they had seen people "ramming" trolleys into staff, had abuse hurled at them as they had to queue outside, customers "throwing items" and "swearing", being punched, spat at and threatened to have their head "kicked in".

Paddy Lillis, Usdaw general secretary, said: "Abuse should never be a part of the job and we are appalled that three-quarters of retail staff say abuse has been worse during this appalling national pandemic.

"At a time when we should all be working together to get through this crisis, it is a disgrace that staff working to keep food on the shelves and the shop safe for customers are being abused."

Usdaw has launched a petition to try and trigger a debate in Parliament to make it a specific offence for retail workers being threatened and assaulted. It has almost 85,000 signatures.

'Send a signal'

A parliamentary bill on the issue is due to receive its second reading in January.

Matt Vickers, the Conservative MP for Stockton South, who has worked in the industry, chairs a group of MPs who discuss retail.

"The fact that they've been on the frontline during this pandemic, normal men and women going out to work to do their job and getting abused in the process and it's just not acceptable," he said.

"Retail companies need to look at what they are doing to protect our shop workers, local police forces need to prioritise protection for shop workers and we need to look at the sector and how we send a signal to those people out there that you can't treat shop workers like this."

A Ministry of Justice spokesman said: "This behaviour is completely unacceptable. Retail staff should be free to work without fear of being abused or attacked.

"There is already a range of offences which criminalise these attacks. When sentencing courts are required to consider assaults on those providing a service to the public an aggravating factor."