Two security guards deny false imprisonment and assault by beating of teenage boy in Superdrug store – Paul Fairley prosecutes for the Crown
Jake De-Geus, 30, a private security guard employed to patrol Chichester city centre, head-butted and handcuffed a 15-year-old boy in a Superdrug store in an ‘unlawful’ and ‘unjustified’ use of force. De-Geus allegedly worked together with colleague Edwin Hirst, 40, to pin down the boy after following him and his friends into the shop where there had been a report of shoplifting. The incident sparked outrage online at the time in March 2023 after a video went viral on social media.
Both defendants were working as ‘town rangers’ employed by a private security form called Blayde. Neither had police powers but had the same powers as ordinary citizens, with the ability to carry out a lawful citizens arrest. On the day in question, both defendants had legitimately entered the Superdrug store following a report of shoplifting of an electric toothbrush. At the same time, three teenage boys came into the shop as one of them needed to buy shampoo and the defendants began following them to make sure they were not stealing. The court heard the three teenagers ‘started being cheeky…picking up things, suggesting they were going to take them’ and one of them put a bottle in someone else’s pocket, which was retrieved by De-Geus, before there was an ‘almighty struggle’, during which De-Geus swung the complainant into a display. Staff arrived to find the complainant shouting as he was detained face down on the floor in handcuffs. De-Geus claimed the lead complainant ‘squared up’ to him and head-butted him but the Crown’s case is it is the other way around.
Mr Fairley told the court the defendants had over-stepped their powers considerably, assaulting the complainant by unlawfully applying force, with no justification for detaining and arresting him.
De-Geus, from Chichester, and Hirst, from Fareham, Hampshire, both deny charges of false imprisonment and assault by beating following the incident in Chichester, West Sussex. Hirst has also denied a charge of assault by beating of another teenager at the store. The trial continues at Portsmouth Crown Court.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cg58zr79165o.amp
