Southampton residents watched in shock as an innocent John Lewis Customer was Slammed to Pavement by Security in Southampton
A Southampton shopper in his 60s was violently slammed to the pavement by security guards after being wrongly accused of shoplifting outside John Lewis, in an incident described by witnesses as “dangerous” and “deeply troubling”.
Startling mobile phone footage, filmed on Above Bar Street outside cafe Nero, shows the man—wearing a blue t-shirt—being grappled from behind and thrown to the concrete in broad daylight. Witnesses said his head came dangerously close to a kerb, with one onlooker saying the force “could have killed” him.
The drama unfolded after staff at the luxury department store accused the customer of lifting an item and demanded to search his bag. The situation escalated outside the store, where a staff member told him: “We’ve got confirmation you’ve taken an item from us without paying for it.” When the man requested to see staff ID, two security guards swooped in from behind, with one yanking him to the ground as stunned shoppers watched.
One guard can be heard in the footage screaming in the man’s ear: “Behave yourself, right now! Right now!”
But the forceful intervention quickly turned humiliating for the guards and John Lewis staff. A search of the man’s bag revealed he had not stolen anything. He was released with apologies, but left visibly shaken by the ordeal, which played out in full view of passers-by on the busy street.
In a bizarre twist, a staff member involved in the confrontation later fainted on the pavement minutes after the victim left the scene.
Local farmer Thomas Oswald, who filmed the incident while out for coffee, told the Daily Mail he was “absolutely shocked” by what he witnessed. “The poor victim’s head was just a few inches from hitting a curb. It would have killed him. If he’d hit the corner of the curb that hard it would have killed him or given him serious brain damage,” he said. “I didn’t know if I should call the police but I could tell the way the man was being treated wasn’t right.”
Mr Oswald backed the man’s stance in asking for ID, saying, “If you’d had your bag taken off you and accused of stealing in public, you’d be pretty annoyed. They could have sat the man down and dealt with the incident calmly but instead they slammed him to the ground. If they saw him stealing, why not talk to him in the shop? Why get him out on the high street and slam him down there?”
He added, “I have no idea about the manager fainting. He could have just realised he made an awful, terrible mistake.”
Both John Lewis and Go!Southampton—the company responsible for the security guards—have said they are investigating the incident. A spokesperson for John Lewis said: “We were very concerned to see this video, and are urgently investigating this matter.” A spokesperson for Go!Southampton added: “We are aware of the incident, which we are taking very seriously. Our service partner Argenbright Security Europe Limited are currently conducting a thorough investigation into the event.”
The incident comes amid wider questions about the conduct of security staff in UK shops, with recent cases of wrongful accusations sparking public concern.
Watch the full video here:
