What happened

A visit by Ian Clayton, a 67-year-old grandfather from Chester, to his local Home Bargains went wrong when staff told him to leave after the store's facial recognition system flagged him as being linked to a previous theft. 

The incident happened in front of other customers; he later described feeling “physically sick” and “helpless” at being treated as a shoplifter despite never having stolen.

After he complained, security firm Facewatch showed him an image alleging he had put items in a bag and stolen them, which he said is entirely false. 

He has asked Home Bargains and the police for CCTV so he can clear his name and is seeking an apology, saying he no longer feels safe or comfortable shopping locally.

Home Bargains refused to comment on the incident, raising questions about its accountabiity. 

Why it happened

The store uses Facewatch facial recognition, which compares shoppers’ faces against a database or “watchlist” of suspected offenders and sends alerts to staff when it believes a match has been found. 

Facewatch admitted that Clayton should not have been on its system and said it had permanently deleted his image and associated record, indicating an error either in adding him to the watchlist or in linking him to a prior incident.

Investigations into Home Bargains’ use of Facewatch have already found poor or obscured signage in some stores; other customers complained of being added to watchlists over disputed or very minor incidents.