Vital shop workers keeping the UK running are being spat on as they suffer rocketing levels of abuse amid the lockdown.
Many tell of having been verbally attacked for asking people not to panic-buy, to queue properly to respect social distancing, or simply because items were not in stock.
In the most shocking cases, vile shoppers threatened to spit or cough on them – or actually did so.
A spokesman for shop workers’ union Usdaw said: “We have seen incidents of violence, threats and abuse against shopworkers double during the coronavirus emergency.”
And general secretary Paddy Lillis added: “Spitting and coughing at someone with the intent of causing harm is a vile assault. We want the Government to legislate for stiffer penalties.”
It comes after the Mirror revealed a railway ticket collector spat at by a passenger died of coronavirus.
Belly Mujinga, 47, who had long-term respiratory problems, passed away in hospital 13 days after the alleged assault. A 57-year-old man from London has been interviewed under caution.
And last month, Claire Saunders, a Co-op employee and Usdaw rep, told how a shoplifter threatened to spit in her face and “give her coronavirus”. Central England Co-op, with 260 stores and petrol stations, has seen a surge in violent offences.
In the four weeks to early May, verbal abuse rose from 11 incidents per week to 24.
All were coronavirus-related and three-quarters involved threats to cough or spit. One worker told Usdaw: “A man wasn’t happy to have to queue for a paper, so he came in my face shouting and spitting.”
Another said someone threatened to spit “for being asked to follow the one-way system”. A third said a shopper was “spitting on me for only being allowed one box of paracetamol”.
And another said: “I witnessed a man spit in a colleague’s face for not letting him take 12 toilet rolls.” The director of Public Prosecutions has warned anyone who coughs on essential workers as a threat amid the crisis faces criminal charges.
Common assault can lead to six months in jail – but judges could set tougher terms under sentencing proposals out last month.
Usdaw is now calling for tougher penalties for threats on shop staff. And Debbie Robinson, chief executive of Central England Co-op, said: “I am a strong campaigner for shop workers to be treated as public servants in the eyes of the law, in cases where they suffer violence or risk from the public."
