Security guards pulled a man to the ground after falsely accusing him of shoplifting from John Lewis.
The man, thought to be in his 60s, had his bag confiscated as he left the department store in Southampton, witnesses said.
He was then asked for his ID before being confronted by security guards who patrol the high street, who ‘slammed’ the shopper to the floor.
Thomas Oswald, a farmer, witnessed the attack as he was sitting at nearby café.
‘I was absolutely shocked at what had just unfolded in front of me’, he said.
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‘The poor victim’s head was just a few inches from hitting a curb.
‘It would have killed him. If he’d hit the corner of the curb that hard it would have killed him or given him serious brain damage.”
‘I didn’t know if I should call the police but I could tell the way the man was being treated wasn’t right.’
Video footage of the incident showed the two guards shouting aggressively at the man, while a John Lewis worker searched his belongings.
They were then seen apologising after the search returned nothing, before the shaken man was released and walked away.
![WITH VIDEO This is the moment an innocent shopper is slammed to the ground by security guards on a high street after he was wrongly accused of stealing from John Lewis. Witnesses said security guards 'could have killed' the man after he was thrown to the ground outside the shop. Onlookers said the man, thought to be in his sixties, had exited John Lewis before he was stopped and had his bag taken by staff. When he demanded to see their ID, private security guards who patrol the high street came up behind the man unprovoked and threw him dangerously to the ground. Shocking video footage shows the two men working for the Business Improvement District [BID] security team in Southampton, Hants, pinning him to the floor. SEE OUR COPY FOR DETAILS. Please byline: Thomas Oswald/Solent News ?? Thomas Oswald/Solent News & Photo Agency UK +44 (0) 2380 458800](https://metro.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/SEI_268765871-f9df.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=646)
The John Lewis worker was then seen fainting on the spot.
The two security guards were understood to be working for Go! Southampton, one of the UK’s 320 business improvement districts (BIDs) and currently undergoing accreditation.
In a statement from the organisation said: ‘We are aware of the incident, which we are taking very seriously.
‘Our service partner Argenbright Security Europe Limited are currently conducting a thorough investigation into the event.’
A spokesperson for John Lewis said: ‘We were very concerned to see this video and are urgently investigating.’
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