Mannings' security guards fired after subduing a woman misidentified as shoplifter

Two security guards have lost their jobs after a customer complained on social media that she was manhandled when being wrongly accused of shoplifting HK$80 worth of goods.

According to the post published on Tuesday (Oct 8), the woman, surnamed Leung, said she had the worst shopping experience of her life when she visited the Tsim Sha Tsui branch of the health and beauty chain Mannings in the morning at around 10 am.

Leung said she was misidentified as a shoplifter and subdued by two female undercover security guards after checking out through the self-service kiosks. The victim said one of the guards held her in a chokehold while the other dragged her by her backpack.

She recalled she was dragged back to the store and being accused of stealing two boxes of herbal cough and throat syrup. Leung was only let go after presenting the invoice without a formal apology but only one of the guards jokingly said the incident was all just a misunderstanding.

Leung filed a complaint to Mannings, asking for a proper explanation and expressing her dismay over the incident.

In response to the incident on Wednesday, Mannings apologized for Leung being mistreated and added that the two undercover guards hired by an outsourced security company had been fired immediately on Tuesday as they violated the code of conduct.

The chain also noted that it has terminated the contract with the outsourced security company.