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A coalition which consists of more than 30 major retail businesses, are today (12 May, 2021) urging MPs to avoid shackling over three million shopworkers to a “life sentence” of violence, abuse and anti-social behaviour by encouraging them to back an amendment to a flagship Government crime bill which would offer frontline workers greater protection.
The call for stiffer penalties for those committing assaults and attacks on shopworkers comes as a new report “Breaking the Cycle: Gaining the views of criminal justice practitioners and retail offenders on effective sentencing” is launched. The research – written by Dr Emmeline Taylor and funded through the Co-op’s Safer Colleagues, Safer Communities, campaign – offers a response to the White Paper “A Smarter Approach to Sentencing and the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill”, and provides clear opportunities to encourage Government to legislate to protect and support shopworkers.