Guards thrash boy over chocolate theft
Published: 18 Sep 2012 08:10 GMT+02:00 | Print version
Updated: 18 Sep 2012 08:10 GMT+02:00
Two security guards from a Toulouse supermarket face assault charges for allegedly beating up a 12-year-old boy caught stealing a chocolate bar.
The case dates back to last spring but only came to light many months later after the boy’s family filed a complaint with police, La Dépêche newspaper reports on its website.
The beating occurred after the security guards took the boy into an office for questioning after he attempted to leave the store with a Kinder Bueno bar, for which he had not paid.
The two men proceeded to beat the boy with their fists, throw him against a wall and strangle him on a table, according to the report.
The assault, lasting four minutes, was captured on video tape, which another employee provided to police, who interviewed witnesses after the family filed its complaint.
The injured boy was treated by a doctor who ordered him to take a day off.
The security guards, aged 43 and 45, were arrested and placed in detention.
During questioning, they explained their behaviour by their frustration over dealing with multiple shoplifting cases every day.
The two men will face the charges against them before the Toulouse magistrates’ court in February 2013.
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