Man kicked out of Morrisons, Rogerstone - then banned from all in UK

Jez Daniels, a black former officer, believes staff were "racially prejudiced" against him during a visit to the Rogerstone store in Newport in February 2022, where he was accused of acting "suspiciously". 

As his visit was during the height of the coronavirus pandemic, Mr Daniels had entered the store wearing a facemask as required by law, intending to buy alcohol and chocolate for his family. 

Now a IT security consultant, Jez used his professional knowledge to request statements and CCTV which seemed to be contradictory (Image: Jez Daniels)He headed directly for the alcohol aisle, only to find staff members following him, and feeling uncomfortable, abandoned his items in the middle of the store and made to leave. 

At this point, he was confronted by the duty manager who accused him of trying to shoplift, and demanded he "get out". 

After complaining to Morrisons head office, which prompted a wider investigation, Mr Daniels was banned from all Morrisons in the UK, with the giant insisting he had been "acting suspiciously" and was banned as "a duty of care" to their staff. 

Jez was confronted by the duty manager who accused him of shoplifting and told him to get out (Image: Jez Daniels)The ban was later lifted by a Morrisons chief, as "a gesture of good will" who maintained that they had acted correctly for the safety of staff and had been right to "take action". 

Using his knowledge as an ex-officer and now IT security consultant, Mr Daniels made a GDPR request for the CCTV footage and statements from staff about the incident, which he said "contradicted each other". 

Jez was followed by staff the moment he walked in heading for the alcohol aisle (Image: Jez Daniels)Mr Daniels said: "I checked the statements and thought I don't remember any of this. They claimed I'd stolen £200 worth of spirits - but the CCTV footage shows I was nowhere near the spirits and at no point had any spirits in my possession. 

"I did some research and apparently if £200 worth of goods is stolen, the police will take the crime seriously. 

"There was no way my shopping came to anywhere close to £200. I believe they racially profiled me and said that because they were scared of me as a black man." 

Mr Daniels said Morrisons denied any staff wrongdoing despite the CCTV showing their statements were incorrect. 

he added: "Staff claimed in the statements I had been violent and aggressive towards them - but I wasn't. I was simply trying to do some shopping for my family."

Jez says he went in for chocolate and alcohol, items he says no way amounted to the £200 he was accused of trying to steal (Image: Jez Daniels)According to the statements, he had been caught trying to steal  products, but when asked to prove this with CCTV, Morrisons told him they could not provide him with this footage, with the footage available showing him as "calm and relaxed". 

Mr Daniels said: "They didn't have any evidence for their claims but banned me based off their staff statements, which CCTV proved to be false. 

"I was particularly frustrated because I was leaving anyway when I got told to get out."

In emails from April 2022, Mr Daniels was told that his suspicious behaviour included entering without a basket or trolley and picking up a carrier bag at the checkout, as well as picking up a product of "high value" and then "abandoning" it. 

Jez Daniels now says he won't shop in Morrisons again after his experience (Image: Jez Daniels)

Morrisons were unable to provide any CCTV evidence of this. 

Despite the ban being lifted, Mr Daniels says he refuses to go into any supermarket that "feels its okay to racially profile a customer or be discriminatory like that".

He even tested his theories by going into a different supermarket giant and attempting to buy the same products he had intended in Morrisons, and was met with no trouble. 

He added: "They were racially profiling me just because of my colour, nothing else. I won't be shopping at Morrisons ever again."

Morrisons did not respond to a request for comment from the Argus.