My client Rebecca, a young woman, was out with a group of friends, attending a music concert in Liverpool City Centre.
In the early hours of the morning, having left the concert Rebecca and her two female friends entered a nearby Burger King restaurant.
Rebecca and her friends, in good spirits, ordered and were served food and sat down at a table in order to eat.
The restaurant was at the time being patrolled by a Security Guard in a high visibility jacket.
Whilst sitting and eating her food, Rebecca was aware of some other young women (whom she did not know) who were sitting at an adjacent table.
One of the girls at this other table then thew some food (believed to be a single French fry) towards the Security Guard who was standing at the food service counter, with his back turned to the customers.
CCTV video footage of this incident from the restaurant’s security cameras, proved that the Security Guard did not and could not have seen who had thrown the chip at him, but on turning around he immediately marched up to Rebecca in the apparent (mistaken) belief that it was her. There was no objective reason why the Security Guard should have picked Rebecca out from amongst all the other customers who ‘could’ have thrown the chip at him. Sadly, he had jumped to the wrong conclusion and was ignoring the real culprit.
Rebecca tried to explain to the Security Guard that it was not her who had thrown the food at him.
The Security Guard refused to listen to Rebecca and instructed her to leave the premises.
As it became clear to Rebecca that the Security Guard was not going to accept what she was saying, she stood up, and picked up her handbag with the intention of leaving the premises, albeit under protest.
Rebecca did continue to protest her innocence to the Security Guard, understandably frustrated at being treated so unfairly, but did not refuse to leave the premises. She was now on her feet, and having collected her coat (which had been laid on the table) was preparing to leave, whilst making it very clear to the Security Guard that she had not thrown the food and she felt his behaviour to be entirely unreasonable.
The interaction between the Security Guard and Rebecca had not lasted very long – no more than 2 minutes had past since the initial ‘chip throwing’ incident – when the Security Guard, suddenly and without warning seized hold of her by her left arm.
Rebecca instinctively tried to pull away but the Security Guard’s grasp was too strong and powerful and she could not escape from his grip.
The Security Guard then twisted Rebecca’s arm up behind her back and force – marched her towards the exit from the restaurant.
Rebecca was immediately aware of pain in her left arm and recalled calling out in pain but the Security Guard would not release his grip upon her.
The Security Guard kept hold of Rebecca, before ushering her out of the door onto the street.
As a result, Rebecca suffered multiple soft tissue injuries.
On my advice, Rebecca brought a claim not just for personal injury, but also for wrongful detention.
In response, the Security Guard’s employers initially denied any wrongdoing on his part and refused to offer compensation. I subsequently issued Court proceedings against the company and prior to Trial, the company agreed an out of Court settlement of £7,100 plus legal costs.
My client’s name has been changed.
Young woman wrongfully assaulted and detained by Burger King Security Guard agrees out of Court settlement
My client Rebecca, a young woman, was out with a group of friends, attending a music concert in Liverpool City Centre.
In the early hours of the morning, having left the concert Rebecca and her two female friends entered a nearby Burger King restaurant.
Rebecca and her friends, in good spirits, ordered and were served food and sat down at a table in order to eat.
The restaurant was at the time being patrolled by a Security Guard in a high visibility jacket.
Whilst sitting and eating her food, Rebecca was aware of some other young women (whom she did not know) who were sitting at an adjacent table.
One of the girls at this other table then thew some food (believed to be a single French fry) towards the Security Guard who was standing at the food service counter, with his back turned to the customers.
CCTV video footage of this incident from the restaurant’s security cameras, proved that the Security Guard did not and could not have seen who had thrown the chip at him, but on turning around he immediately marched up to Rebecca in the apparent (mistaken) belief that it was her. There was no objective reason why the Security Guard should have picked Rebecca out from amongst all the other customers who ‘could’ have thrown the chip at him. Sadly, he had jumped to the wrong conclusion and was ignoring the real culprit.
Rebecca tried to explain to the Security Guard that it was not her who had thrown the food at him.
The Security Guard refused to listen to Rebecca and instructed her to leave the premises.
As it became clear to Rebecca that the Security Guard was not going to accept what she was saying, she stood up, and picked up her handbag with the intention of leaving the premises, albeit under protest.
Rebecca did continue to protest her innocence to the Security Guard, understandably frustrated at being treated so unfairly, but did not refuse to leave the premises. She was now on her feet, and having collected her coat (which had been laid on the table) was preparing to leave, whilst making it very clear to the Security Guard that she had not thrown the food and she felt his behaviour to be entirely unreasonable.
The interaction between the Security Guard and Rebecca had not lasted very long – no more than 2 minutes had past since the initial ‘chip throwing’ incident – when the Security Guard, suddenly and without warning seized hold of her by her left arm.
Rebecca instinctively tried to pull away but the Security Guard’s grasp was too strong and powerful and she could not escape from his grip.
The Security Guard then twisted Rebecca’s arm up behind her back and force – marched her towards the exit from the restaurant.
Rebecca was immediately aware of pain in her left arm and recalled calling out in pain but the Security Guard would not release his grip upon her.
The Security Guard kept hold of Rebecca, before ushering her out of the door onto the street.
As a result, Rebecca suffered multiple soft tissue injuries.
On my advice, Rebecca brought a claim not just for personal injury, but also for wrongful detention.
In response, the Security Guard’s employers initially denied any wrongdoing on his part and refused to offer compensation. I subsequently issued Court proceedings against the company and prior to Trial, the company agreed an out of Court settlement of £7,100 plus legal costs.
My client’s name has been changed.
Also read: False Imprisonment by a Security Guard
