Daily Mail, Tuesday, August 13, 2019 Page 33
Tesco worker
was sacked for
chasing thief...
weeks later he
killed himself
Daily Mail ReporterA DEDICATED supermarket
worker killed himself after he was
sacked for chasing a shoplifter, an
inquest was told.
Shaun Winstanley, 49, had worked
at Tesco for 17 years before he was
fired for what his employer said was
‘unreasonable behaviour’ in leaving
his till to go after the thief.
He was said to have been devastated to
lose his job as a customer assistant at the
Tesco Express in Poulton-le-Fylde, Lan-
cashire, on January 2.
And days after losing an appeal against
the sacking, he ‘sorted out his affairs’
before suffocating himself some time
between February 11 and February 13,
the inquest heard.
The father of three, who had previously
won an award for his long service to the
company, had a history of mental health
problems which worsened after a sepa-
rate incident in May 2018 where he was
held at gunpoint during a robbery at a
Tesco Express in Blackpool.
He was offered five counselling sessions
by his employer following the robbery
and was transferred to work at other
Tesco branches in Poulton and
also Bispham, the hearing was
told. But his family claim he
was not initially offered time
off work and was disciplined
for missing three shifts after
the robbery.
His stepdaughter Siobhan
Winstanley, 28, said: ‘Seven-
teen years he gave them and
when he needed them most
they let him down.’
The family of Mr Winstanley,
who was from Blackpool, say
he was told he was fired for
‘putting yourself and a cus-
tomer in danger and unrea-
sonable behaviour of chasing
the shoplifter’.
They also claim a letter,
signed by the store manager,said: ‘I do not feel you can be
trusted to not make the same
decision in the future so there-
fore you have breached the
company’s trust’. Mr Win-
stanley was last seen by a
neighbour on February 11.
Two days earlier, he had con-Mr Winstanley’s body was
found on February 13 after one
of his friends became worried.
The friend called 999 and
police forced entry into his
home. Detective Constable
Carl Harris said it appeared
Mr Winstanley had ‘put his
affairs in order’ before taking
his own life.
Recording a conclusion of
suicide, coroner Clare Doherty
said: ‘It was apparent that [Mr
Winstanley’s] employment was
not going to be restored and
he was devastated by that. He
was an employee for 17 years
and had won an award in the
past for being a good
employee... Mr Winstanley hadsuffered a marked mental
deterioration last summer,
while at work he had witnessed
an armed robbery... It does
appear he had fragile mental
health and these events have
caused a deterioration.’
A Tesco spokesman said:
“The welfare and safety of our
colleagues is of utmost impor-
tance to us and we were
extremely sad to hear about
the death of Mr Winstanley ...
‘We are unable to comment
on individual circumstances
relating to our colleagues.
n For confidential support,
call the Samaritans on 116123,
go to a branch or visit http://www.
samaritans.org‘Devastated to
lose his job’Award winner: Shaun Winstanleyfided in a friend that he was
having suicidal thoughts after
losing his job, the inquest at
Blackpool Town Hall heard.
His appeal against being fired
was thrown out on February 6.IF YOU’RE stuck for the solution to today’s clue or any
others this week, call our Solution Line on 0901 293 6280.
Calls cost £1 plus your network access charge.n
THE Mail’s brilliant new Royal Treasure Hunt, which runs
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Terms and conditions are below or viewable online at dailymail.co.uk/treasure
Entrants must be UK residents (excl NI) aged 18 or over. For help with this
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rate phone call. You may enter by phone or text as many times as you wish, but only once by email. The
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London, including travel, a five-star hotel stay, dinner at the Tower of London and a tour of the Jewel
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additional £20,000 prize on August 31, 2019) by phone call between 9am and 11am that day. The Promotershall attempt to call the winner three times on the telephone number provided by the winner. Failure by
the winner to receive the call and accept the prize will make their claim invalid and the Promoter will
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residence and photograph in relation to the Publisher’s publicity material and activities.TODAY’S ANSWER
£10k in jewels or cash MUST be won every week for
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PLUS all correct entries go into a draw to win £20k in
jewels or cash and a royal VIP experience in London
Solve this riddle to reveal a country house
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And add where sheep and cattle
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Where young Bess was told she’d
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