Crackdown on shopfloor crime as 10-year ASBO is handed down
In what is being heralded as a crackdown on retail crime, a Newcastle man has been given a 10-year Anti-Social Behaviour Order (ASBO), banning him from a range of stores across the country. David Fletcher has been ordered to stay out of Tesco, B&Q, Safeway, Sainsbury's, Morrisons, Somerfield, Matalan and North Eastern Co-op stores in England and Wales.

The North East Retail Crime Partnership secured the order on Fletcher, who used intimidating language at staff as his accomplices made away with goods from shops. A report from Northumbria police said spirits was a particular target for the group. Police say it is the first time such a sentence has been achieved by a specialist retail crime unit.

Usdaw general secretary John Hannett said: 'This is a major breakthrough in using ASBOs to protect vulnerable retail staff, because the severity of the ban sends out a clear signal to anyone who thinks they can verbally intimidate staff and get away with it. Our Freedom From Fear campaign has highlighted the day-to-day violence that shopworkers suffer and I'm pleased the authorities in the North East have taken such a hard line to protect workers who have a right to work free from intimidation.'

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