SUPERMARKETS - POWERS TO STOP AND SEARCH?

[dikkobat]

A couple of times recently i have had the "beeper" go off as i leave a shop, the last occasion being Tesco, whereupon a small teenage lad charged up to me and asked me to step back into the store for them to check that i had paid for all the items in it. I knew i had definately paid for all the items (bread/milk/workstuff), so i just said "No". He asked me a couple of times more and even though i felt like a crim, i kept sayings "no, i have paid for everything, i have no need to return to the store to have my shopping checked." He asked me again (quite assertively for a small lad)and i said "You better be right, son". At which opint he looked at my shopping bag and said "Umm, it might have been someone else setting the beeper off", so i walked away. NOW! What powers do shops have to stop and search/detain you if you are certain you have not taken anything without paying for it? What would happen if you just kept walking, do they have the power to physically restrain you from leaving (even if you are outside the shop by this point?) Sensible answers appreciated :0)

[dikkobat]

Yep, TehMonkey, seems you missed the point didnt you. Its not about being a jobsworth, there was a valid qustion asked. I also mentioned that it was small items for work therefore no tags on them. The question was "Do they have the right to stop and search you?"

Fortunately there are some people here that can provide sensible answers, so i shall have to investigate this.

Judge not lest ye be judged.

[dikkobat]

Thanks CyberProg, thats more the kind of thing i was looking to clarify. I was wondering HOW sure they have to be before detaining you. TomJS posted a very interesting reply as well regarding compenstion for wrongful detainment. These beepers seem to go off for many reasons and i was wondering if that in itself was sufficient to detain you or whether it had to be corroborated by a member of staff witnessing you stealing something. If this were not the case, surely one would be in a position to "detain with reasonable force" anyone who set the alarm off. I know that if i was in this position, i would be hoping for it to go off whenever someone i didnt like went through it and detain them with as much reasonable force as possible due to them resisting.

Im not being a jobsworth about it, its just that the poor kids they seem to put on shoplifter-catching duties seem to be hugely enthusiastic (and yes, fairly polite). Unfortunately, unless they have had secret-ninja-assassin-training, im not convinced they could physically restrain a more aggressive/physically superior mentallist (not me tho, im just a mild mannered middle aged guy minding my own business :0))