Overview

• Emilie Martin recounts being punched outside a Hackney Tesco in 2015 after reporting teenage shoplifters to staff, with her attackers never identified.
• She has gone public again in 2025, publishing an open letter after PCC Matthew Barber urged bystanders to help tackle shoplifting, and he replied calling her ordeal horrific.
• Martin told GB News she did not confront the thieves, yet was attacked as she left, and she criticized how police handled victim care and scheduling.
• Tesco told her the store’s CCTV of the incident was lost in a technical error, her initial CICA claim was rejected, and she ultimately received £3,480 in 2021 after tribunal hearings.
• She reports lasting injuries and PTSD with long NHS waits, while the Met says it investigated but found no suspects and cites a 163% rise in shoplifting cases solved as ONS records 516,971 offences, up about 20% year on year.