"Shoplifter" with "serious" head injury after assault by man at Portsmouth Co-op - latest

As reported, police and an ambulance attended the Co-op store on Tangier Road at 7.21pm on Saturday (January 20) after a male customer allegedly assaulted a female shoplifter. Locals reported the woman being "seriously injured" following the altercation inside the shop that spilled outside. The road was cordoned off with a crime scene set up as police stood guard.

A police spokesman previously said: "We were called to a report that  a 37-year-old woman had been assaulted by a man close to the Co-Op store on Tangier Road in Portsmouth. She was taken to hospital to be treated for an injury to her head and has since been discharged. Enquiries are ongoing to establish what happened. No arrests have been made at this time."

Now more than a month on from the incident police have said no one has been arrested with "enquiries ongoing" still.

A spokesperson for the Co-op had said: "The incident at Tangier Road is the subject of an ongoing police investigation and as such, we're unable to provide a comment."

Meanwhile, residents expressed their frustration at the store being regularly raided by thieves. One local said: "Fed up with the thieves and the abuse the staff have to take."  

Another said: "Customer threw a thief out and she banged her head on railings."