The Conservatives have demanded that a Waitrose employee who was sacked for tackling a suspected shoplifter be given his job back.
Walker Smith, 54, was working at the branch in Clapham Junction when a customer alerted him to a shopper allegedly filling a bag with luxury Easter eggs.
Shadow home secretary Chris Philip said the supermarket had acted “disgracefully” by dismissing Mr Smith, who had worked at the south London store for 17 years.
Mr Smith said the suspect was known to staff and had targeted the store before, adding that when he confronted the individual and “grabbed the bag”, the person pulled it back, sparking a brief struggle.
The bag split during the scuffle, sending Lindt Gold Bunny Easter eggs, worth £13 each, crashing to the floor. The shoplifter then fled the store.
In his frustration, Mr Smith said he picked up a piece of shattered chocolate and “threw it” towards some shopping trolleys, not aiming it at the shoplifter, he told The Guardian.
He was reprimanded by a manager and apologised, but the situation was escalated and ultimately led to his dismissal.
Mr Smith had previously been instructed not to challenge shoplifters, but said years of witnessing daily, repeated theft, had pushed him to act.
Responding to The Guardian’s article, Waitrose said Mr Smith’s interview with the newspaper “does not cover the full facts of the situation”.
Mr Philp has since posted a letter to managing director Tom Denyard calling for Mr Smith to be reinstated.
He also urged Waitrose to give the 54-year-old a bonus “for his bravery and initiative”, adding that “dismissing a long-serving employee in these circumstances sends entirely the wrong message”.
“It penalises those who act, while offenders are left unchecked,” he wrote. “Of course, the police and this failing Government must do more to tackle shoplifting.
“But store staff and the public should be supported and encouraged to intervene as well. Otherwise, shoplifting will continue to surge unchecked.”
Goole and Pocklington MP David Davis, meanwhile, took to X to ask: “Has the world gone mad?'
“In a more sensible era, this man would have been rewarded for being brave,” he said of Mr Smith's actions.
“Instead, Waitrose sacked him for stopping a suspected shoplifter from stealing a bag of Easter eggs.”
A GoFundMe page has also been launched to support Mr Smith, with over £2,000 being raised so far.
Mr Smith’s case comes amid a wider surge in shoplifting across the UK.
Official figures show there were 519,381 shoplifting offences recorded in England and Wales in the year to September 2025, a 5 per cent rise on the 492,660 logged the previous year, according to the Office for National Statistics.
That total is just below the record 530,643 offences recorded in the 12 months to March 2025.
