Primark shoppers have 'hair ripped out' in violent fights in UK's biggest branch

17 July 2023 , 08:02

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Onlookers stood-by and filmed as two women traded blows and rolled around on the shop floor in Birmingham's Primark (Image: xxxxxx/snapchat)

Primark shoppers have been "jumped" at and had their "hair ripped out" in a spate of violent attacks in the company's largest store in Europe.

There has been more than 50 assaults at the clothing brand's flagship store in Birmingham city centre in the past two financial years.

The rise in violence has been blamed on squeezed budgets and rising prices amid the cost of living crisis.

But authorities are concerned about the violence at the Primark, one incident of which saw a person being pushed down the escalators and jumped on. A member of staff at the branch on the city’s High Street was said to have committed another assault, which caused injury.

There has been a sharp rise in assaults at the world’s biggest Primark - in Birmingham (xxxxxx/snapchat)

The assaults have come despite the opening of a Greggs inside the clothing store (Darren Quinton/Birmingham Live)

Figures released today by West Midlands Police show the number of assaults in the huge Primark in Birmingham city centre has more than doubled over the past year. The force said some incidents are being investigated and these are thought to include the moment one woman pinned another to the ground in a shocking confrontation last July.

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They were shown rolling around on the floor and trading blows in a clip which went viral on social media. One of the women pinned her opponent to the ground and repeatedly said: "Let go, and I’ll let go of you."

In another incident, a victim was pushed down escalators after being involved in a fight. One or more people then "jumped on top of the victim", who was left with swelling and bruises, according to a log.

In another case a verbal altercation between two shoppers turned violent and led to the injured party (IP) receiving a cut to the ear and having hair pulled out, another entry by West Midlands Police states. The number of recorded offences jumped from 18 between 2021 and 2022 up to 40 in the next financial year.

In the most recent 12 months, they included 13 assaults with injury and one case defined as "race or religiously aggravated assault with injury". Five members of staff and seven members of the public were hurt, according to the disclosure. In one instance last year, a store employee was said to be the offender in a case defined as ‘assault with injury’, the dataset shows.

Disclosing the information, West Midlands Police said that it had withheld some details to protect personal information and the integrity of investigations and proceedings.

Black Friday shoppers descend upon the Primark store last year (Joseph Walshe SWNS)

Responding to the figures, a spokesperson told Metro.co.uk: "We take the safety of customers and colleagues in our stores very seriously.

"We employ expert third party security partners to deal with incidents in a safe and controlled way, so that our colleagues feel safe at work and our customers can have a safe and enjoyable shopping experience.

"Unfortunately, we have seen an increase in crime and anti-social behaviour, not just in Primark stores but across the retail industry.

"This is not something that we tolerate and we continue to engage with the police, local authorities and other agencies and businesses to explore different ways of tackling this issue."

Bradley Jolly