Mother’s outrage as Black teenage son ‘restrained’ by security staff in Superdrug
Two teenagers were arrested following incident in store in West Sussex
A mother has shared a video of her Black teenage son appearing to be handcuffed on the floor in a Superdrug store in West Sussex.
Two boys were arrested after an altercation in the branch on Wednesday afternoon, with footage posted on social media.
The mother’s clip appears to show the boy being restrained and handcuffed by two security staff, with one kneeling across his legs.
The mother claimed her 15-year-old was “shopping for shampoo” before alleging the guards sat on and handcuffed him.
Sussex Police said its officers were called to the shop in Chichester shortly after 3.30pm to reports that a group of teenagers had become involved in an altercation. A shop worker also reported being assaulted, officers said.
Three teenagers had been detained by civilian security staff by the time police arrived, Sussex Police said, with two subsequently arrested.
A 15-year-old boy from Worthing and a 16-year-old boy from Chichester were arrested on suspicion of assault.
The force said it is looking into the full circumstances of what happened. A Superdrug spokesperson told the Independent that the security staff involved in the incident were not part of their team.
A statement from the chain added: “An incident occurred today in our Chichester store. Unfortunately female staff were also assaulted. This is now a police matter and we are offering our full assistance to Sussex Police.”
A Chichester District Council spokesperson added: “We have been made aware of an incident that took place in Chichester city today and we want to clarify that no Chichester District Council staff were involved.”