Primark to investigate after woman claims security guard took breastfeeding child from her arms
An English woman has claimed that a security guard at a Leicester branch of Primark forcibly took her baby daughter from her arms as she breastfed.
Caroline Starmer, 28, shared her story on a breastfeeding support Facebook page saying the incident took place yesterday morning.
Starmer writes that while in the shop, she found a discreet place to feed her nine-month-old daughter, Paige, while her other child, Paige's twin, sat in its buggy.
She says that a security guard approached her and asked her to leave the premises. When she refused, saying she had a right to feed her daughter, Starmer said the guard then took the baby from her arms and walked away.
âI stood my ground and stated my rights, that I can legally feed where I want.. Just for the security officer to physically remove my daughter from my breast and walk down the store with her, saying if I wanted my daughter, then I was to come and get her,â she wrote.
After she retrieved her daughter from the guard, Caroline writes that she went straight to the police station where she reported the incident. She also made a complaint directly to Primark (which operates as Penneys in Ireland).
Starmer shared her story on the Free To Feed Facebook page which campaigns against the discrimination of breastfeeding mothers. It generated a huge response - it currently has 11,000 shares and over 4,600 comments - with most voicing their disbelief and disgust at the incident.
The company have stated that they are investigating what happened and reiterated that breastfeeding mothers are welcome in their stores.
Primark have released a statement saying they have reviewed CCTV footage and spoken with security guards at the store who "categorically deny behaving in the way alleged". Primark have concluded that "the customer allegation is not supported by the available evidence to date".
According to the BBC, Leicestershire Police say they have spoken to Ms Starmer and "arrangements are being made to take further statements in relation to the incident".
