Assaulting shop workers to be made separate criminal offence after government U-turn [Video]

Assaulting a shopworker is to be made a separate criminal offence after the government U-turned in the face of a long-running campaign.

Ministers had previously ruled out legislating to create a new offence, saying in response to a parliamentary petition in October they did not think it was “required or will be most effective”.

But on Wednesday, Rishi Sunak announced that his government would be amending its Criminal Justice Bill to bring in the new offence.

He said: “I am sending a message to those criminals – whether they are serious organised criminal gangs, repeat offenders or opportunistic thieves – who think they can get away with stealing from these local businesses or abusing shopworkers, enough is enough.

“Our local shops are the lifeblood of our communities, and they must be free to trade without …