Whiplash injury from security guard wins £3,000

When an eighteen year old woman was wrongly accused of shoplifting, a security guard’s physical intervention left her with whiplash and inhibited her daily life.

The severity of the injuries, circumstances of the incident, and the effects to her work and personal life meant that it was a satisfying conclusion for the client to win £3,000 in compensation for her ordeal.

Security guard severely injures shopper

A young woman from Leigh, Greater Manchester, had gone out for what she believed to be a normal shopping trip in 2012 when she sustained severe physical and psychological damage for a crime she did not commit.

When she was falsely accused of shoplifting by attending staff, a security guard took it upon herself to physically intervene to restrain the young woman. Her extremely over the top approach left the young woman with twelve months of soft tissue damage to her neck and serious injuries to her back. The attack left the poor woman with difficulties attending work and going about her daily life.

On top of this, she was also left with psychological damage from her traumatic incident and had situational anxiety for several months after the altercation.

Seeking compensation for an innocent victim

The young woman approached us to represent her in her pursuit of fair and adequate compensation for her injuries and traumatic experience. Given all she had gone through, her innocence in the matter, and the aggressive nature of the attack, we believed it only right that she got the justice she deserved.

It was argued in court that the security guard simply tapped her on the shoulder, a spurious fabrication that only added to the distressing situation from our client. It was established that, instead of simply tapping her on the shoulder, the security guard physically swung her round with excessive force which caused the injuries. We brought medical records and witnesses to establish the excessive force upon which the case was built.

£3,000 compensation for the physical and psychological damage

After establishing the innocence of our client and the excessive force used by the security guard, we were delighted to help secure our client a compensation package of £3,000.

The court found the store vicariously liable for the behaviour of their employee and our client was allowed to keep 100% of the compensation.

Nobody should feel physically threatened when just popping to the shops, especially when they’re innocent of any wrongdoing. We hope this leads to a change of policy for the shop moving forward about not being quite so heavy-handed with customers.