Sainsbury's worker sacked over not paying for bags

An employee who had worked for Sainsbury's for almost 20 years has been sacked for taking some "bags for life" without paying for them.

Niamke Doffou worked at the Romford Sainsbury's store as a night shift assistant.

He did some personal shopping in the early morning after his night shift and clicked the "zero bags used" option on the till when he had in fact used multiple carrier bags.

At an employment tribunal Mr Doffou claimed that he was unfairly dismissed, but his appeal was unsuccessful.

At the end of his night shift in August 2022 Mr Doffou bought some food, bedding and pillows in advance of having friends coming to stay.

The value of the shopping was £30.

CCTV footage shows Mr Doffou making multiple trips to get carrier bags but his receipt shows that these bags were not paid for.

He said he was tired and was unaware that he had clicked the "no bags used" button on the till, unintentionally not paying for the carrier bags.

Disciplinary action was taken by Sainsbury's and Mr Doffou was sacked for the offence.

The case later went to an employment tribunal and a judge ruled that Sainsbury's were within their right to sack Mr Doffou finding that he had "acted dishonestly" and "committed theft".

The BBC approached Sainsbury's for comment, but the supermarket said it had nothing to add to the tribunal ruling.