RTE Prime Time viewers were shocked last night after an investigation uncovered the abuse suffered by Irish shop and supermarket workers.
One shopkeeper in Limerick city, Shane Gleeson, revealed how he has been threatened with broken wine bottle and his son was threatened with a knife while working in the shop.
He told RTE: "I've had a bottle of wine broken and been threatened with the broken glass. I've had guys with needles. My son was threatened with a knife."
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Mr Gleeson, who runs five Spar shops in Limerick city, said he has seen a recent surge in shoplifting. He said it is a very "serious crime" and estimates that one of his shops loses between €70,000 to €80,000 to shoplifting every year.
He said that they experience so many cases of attempted shoplifting a day that don't have the capacity to report all the incidents to gardai and only report repeat offenders or people who are abusive.
Mr Gleeson also said that him and his staff have also been the victims of harassment, threats and vicious attacks.
He said: "One of the most serious incidents was my own son, he went out to prevent a theft and the individual involved pulled a needle on him and tried to stab him with it. Sean managed to get away.
"We had another guy pulled a knife on us inside the shop and we managed to get in behind the counter and we have an alarm button there.
"We hit the alarm button and in fairness, the guards were there within a minute and a half so the guy was arrested."
Sheila Clarke, who runs Clarke’s XL shop in Ballina, Co Mayo, has experienced a similar rise in crime.
She said: "At the moment, we're almost going through a pandemic of petty crime.
"There’s this constant drive to acquire, acquire and if they can’t afford to pay for it, well, then they’ll just take it."
According to the Prime Time report, gardaí figures reported that theft from shops had increased by 41% last year.
Taking to Twitter, viewers watching the show agreed with how rampant shoplifting and abuse of retail workers was across the country.
One person wrote: "Everyone who has worked in retail has a story about abuse from customers. This is sadly nothing new #rtept"
A second said: "#rtept my local shopkeeper does not challenge thieves any more."
Another Twitter user, claimed to have suffered the abuse first-hand, writing: "Worked in retail for 13 years. Had so much hassle and stress with thefts. Guys coming back multiple times to steal."
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