Auditor arrested at Jobcentre after security guard’s assault claim

An auditor was arrested at a Jobcentre after a security guard claimed she was assaulted – after she bumped into the man with her chest.

Police were called to reports of a disorder at the Department for Work and Pensions-run service in Maryport St, Devizes, shortly before 4pm on 13 March.

A 30-minute-long video posted by Absolute Audits shows an auditor filming in a publicly accessible area of the Jobcentre building, before he’s confronted by a security guard.

A woman, wearing a G4S uniform and a body-worn camera, tells the auditor to stop filming and demands he leave – before asking a member of staff to call the police.

When the auditor refuses to leave, the security guard says “get out now” and bumps into him with her chest. She then says “now you’ve touched me… it’s all on camera, off you go”.

Officers arrived at the scene and spoke to both parties. The auditor offered to show the police his footage of the incident – which would prove that no assault occurred.

They refused to view it at the time and the auditor was arrested for common assault – after telling officers that he had not assaulted the security guard, and thus did not want to provide his personal details.

But at custody, the desk sergeant did not authorise the auditor’s detention and told the officers to drive him back to the location at which he was arrested.

The auditor later collected his micro SD card from Devizes police station, after a local sergeant reviewed the footage and is believed to have formed the opinion that the reported assault did not happen.

A spokesperson for Wiltshire Police confirmed that no further action will be taken against the auditor, who is aged in his 20s, “due to a lack of evidence”.

They added: “If further evidence comes to light, we will re-open our investigation.”

Wiltshire 999s approached G4S for a statement in relation to the behaviour of their security guard, but a spokesperson refused to comment on the situation.

They said: “We manage staffing matters in line with good employment practice; it would be inappropriate for us to discuss individual issues.”