New task force and petition for Gurmail Singh

Mar 8 2010 by Kevin Core, Huddersfield Daily Examiner

New task force and petition for Gurmail Singh

“We should also look at the fact that shops like those owned by Gurmail Singh are not high risk but they can be adjacent to areas that are.”

Andrew Wilby, chairman of YIGA said one of the main areas of concern is the speed of response from the police when a shopkeeper alerts them to a problem, as well as fixed penalty notices for shoplifters sending out the wrong message to would-be criminals.

He said: “The government has to rethink its irritating portrayal of ‘the irresponsible shopkeeper’.

“When there are discussions about the tobacco and alcohol sales to teenagers it is always shopkeepers that are presented this way.

“They are keen to use the police to target shops for underage selling and to take away their licences but they are not so keen to support them when crime and abuse are the result of the need to challenge youngsters.

“The purchaser needs to be prosecuted.

“They look after the big supermarkets but they pay lip service to the corner shop community.”

Family and friends of Gurmail Singh are urging the public to sign their petition, which will be distributed throughout shops in Huddersfield, before being given to the Prime Minister by MP Barry Sheerman.

Clr Mohan Sokhal said: “We want to ask the government to protect the small shopkeeper and deliver tougher sentences for people who would attack them.”