'Outstanding' supermarket worker fired for chasing down thief, kills himself

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tesco, supermarket worker, suicide

The store called it 'unreasonable behavior'.

By Web Report

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Published: Wed 14 Aug 2019, 3:28 PM

Last updated: Wed 14 Aug 2019, 5:38 PM

A 49-year-old supermarket worker killed himself after the supermarket giant sacked him for 'unreasonable behavior' of chasing a shoplifter.
Shaun Winstanley, from Staining near Blackpool, Lancashire, had worked at Tesco for 17 years and also won several awards including Years of Outstanding Service.
But he could not come to terms with losing his job, and was found dead at his home after suffocating himself on February 13, nine months after the robbery incident, an inquest heard.
According to a report in Mirror.co.uk, Winstanley had a history of mental health problems which worsened after he was held at gunpoint during the robbery at Tesco Express in May last year. Further when he was disciplined for missing three shifts following the robbery, Winstanley was left devastated. An investigation was launched into the indecent and Tesco sacked the father-of-three from his role as a customer assistant for chasing a shoplifter and putting himself and a customer in danger.
Despite appealing the decision, Tesco upheld their decision on February 6 and sacked Winstanley, following which he had told a friend he was having suicidal thoughts. The inquest heard that the Tesco worker's fragile mental state further deteriorated  following the sacking and he killed himself sometime between February 11 and February 13.
Winstanley's step-daughter, Siobhan, 28, told that when she wrote to Tesco about her father's death, she was told the matter was closed. "I am angry at Tesco.
Seventeen years he gave them and when he needed them most they let him down. After 17 years, they sent him off without even a 'bye'," she said.
Siobhan added, "I think there needs to be an awareness of mental health. I could try to take them [Tesco] to tribunal but anything they could give me wouldn't be good enough. It would be blood money. I don't want money. I want my dad back." Winstanley was found dead at his home on February 13.


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