A Hawke’s Bay man is shocked after he was trespassed from his local supermarket following raising concerns about trollies blocking the fire exit.
Tony Hughes was visiting New World Havelock North earlier this month when he noticed the fire exit was blocked by trollies filled with reduce to clear goods and some baskets of clearance goods on the floor.
He told Morning Report he asked the manager if they would clear the exit and they agreed and thanked him.
However, when Hughes next returned to the store about 10 days later he noticed the fire exit was once again blocked.
“It was really a rinse and repeat, where I took a photo, went up to checkouts and asked to speak to a manager and again showed them a photo and asked them to sort it,” he said.
Last Sunday, he popped into the store to get some bread and milk. This time he didn’t look at the fire exit but on his way out the store security guard stopped him and trespassed him, Hughes said.
“When I asked why he said it was because I had taken photos around the store and that I was trespassed,” Hughes said.
“For privacy reasons we don’t discuss individual customer matters but generally speaking, the decision to issue a trespass notice is made when there are genuine safety or security concerns,” FoodStuffs said.
What is going on with the article’s use of the word trespassed? Is there some other meaning I’m not aware of akin to barred/banned/ejected?
Under NZ law you’re not trespassing in a supermarket until you’ve been told about it.
To “trespass” someone is police-speak for to issue them with a trespass notice (verbally or in writing). In this article, “was trespassed” indicates he was the recipient of one.