HALFORDS store manager attacked by shoplifters blamed by the firm for trying to stop them.

A Halfords store manager attacked by shoplifters has been blamed by the firm for trying to stop them.

Marty Scott, 57, was kicked in the head and had a stroke soon after.

It meant he could not return to work and the firm offered him just £16,000 in compensation.

Marty, who had worked for the chain for 40 years, was told the “root cause” had been his efforts to stop the two men and he is now suing.

The firm’s lawyers said: “It is company policy not to attempt to retrieve stock or aggravate the situation and the claimant went directly against this policy, placing himself and potentially others at risk.”

Marty’s wife Kim, 51, said: “It’s an appalling way to treat someone."

She added: “Shoplifting is out of control.

"This is what happens when someone tries to stop these people helping themselves."

Two months before the incident Marty had written to bosses expressing fears over the increased danger staff faced from shoplifters and calling for security to be beefed up.

He wrote: "We preach that our colleagues are more important than stock, which they are. I have a massive concern. I worry that sooner or later a colleague is going to get hurt or a colleague is going to hurt a thief because the abuse and threat is too much."

Kim said: "It makes us so angry to read those words now, he spelled it out for them that something was going to happen - and the person he feared for turned out to be him."

Halfords upped its offer to £20,000 but Marty has rejected it.

The case against the thieves was dropped because they could not be identified — even though it was on CCTV at the store in Stockton, Co Durham.

Marty’s wife Kim said: 'It’s an appalling way to treat someone. Shoplifting is out of control' Credit: Glen Minikin

Credit: thesun