Portsmouth pensioner's fury after being manhandled by security guard while shopping for milk in Iceland
BUDGET food store Iceland has come under fire after a pensioner was '˜aggressively manhandled' by a security guard while trying to buy a bottle of milk.
Thomas Leach had attempted to take a '˜short-cut' through the tills to pick up his pint of milk before paying for it at the store in London Road, North End.
It was a move the 69-year-old said he had done countless times before to avoid walking across the store.
However, on this occasion, the pensioner '“Â who suffers from angina '“Â Â was grabbed from behind by a burly security guard, who gripped his arm and yanked him back.
Mr Leach said: '˜As I went through the door I noticed this big security guard but thought nothing of it.
'˜I went by and to the left as I have done many times before to take a short cut between the tills.
'˜As I was halfway through I was just grabbed from behind by the back of the arm quite tightly.
'˜I didn't know who had grabbed me at first. It was a massive shock.'
Mr Leach said he tried to reason with the security guard, explaining his actions, for almost 15 minutes.
But things became heated and the guard swore at him, prompting a member of Iceland staff to speak to the guard, Mr Leach said.
'˜[The guard] just stormed off and chucked his radio away, I couldn't believe it,' said the retired maintenance engineer of Meredith Road, North End.
'˜It wasn't the ultimate crime to go through the check out the wrong way but he was furious.
'˜I said to the store manager 'I'm not shopping here any more'.
'˜I have angina. I have got high blood pressure. You don't expect to be accosted and assaulted in the way I have been.
'˜I was in so much distress my son had to calm me down.'
Iceland has since launched an investigation into the incident, which took place on July 31.
A spokeswoman said: '˜Iceland has clear polices in place to ensure all of our customers and colleagues are treated fairly; this includes all third party agencies such as our security staff who are trained accordingly.
'˜Iceland takes all complaints extremely seriously and would like to advise our customer to contact our customer care team so we can conduct a thorough investigation into their store visit on July 31.'
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