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  "path": "/news/pensioner-kicked-out-home-bargains-facial-recognition-mistake-chester-news",
  "publishedAt": "2026-02-23T09:54:45.000Z",
  "site": "https://www.gbnews.com",
  "tags": [
    "Huge blaze engulfs London church as 70 firefighters rush to tackle raging inferno",
    "Wealthy couple ordered to remove rooftop planters at £2.5m London home after furious neighbour row",
    "Reform would create Ice-style agency amid plans to deport nearly 300,000 people per year",
    "its system operates with \"99.98 per cent accuracy”.",
    "The GB News Editorial Charter"
  ],
  "textContent": "\n\n\nA 67-year-old grandfather was forced to leave his local Home Bargains after facial recognition cameras mistakenly flagged him as a shoplifter.\n\nIan Clayton from Chester described feeling \"helpless\" when staff asked him to exit the store, having been wrongly connected to a theft he had no involvement in.\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n\"I thought I was going to be sick,\" he said, recalling the incident where he was flagged by the Facewatch-operated software.\n\n\"That feeling didn't go away all day, and it didn't go away the next day.\"\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nTRENDING\n\nStories\n\nVideos\n\nYour Say\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nMr Clayton insisted on his innocence in the affair, highlighting his unblemished history with the law, which further increased his distress.\n\n\"I've got a perfect clean record - always have had, I pride myself in that,\" he said.\n\nThe pensioner expressed deep frustration at being wrongly branded a criminal by automated surveillance systems.\n\n\"I'm not a shoplifter, and I really resent being targeted as one and having my face on a system that I can't even have removed,\" he told the BBC.\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nMr Clayton is now seeking an apology from Home Bargains for how he was treated.\n\nThe grandfather stressed that he simply wants \"to feel safe\" when visiting his neighbourhood shops again.\n\nAfter the incident, Mr Clayton reached out to Facewatch, which responded by sending him a photograph along with an accusation that he had concealed items in a bag and stolen them.\n\nHe has also requested CCTV footage from both the police and Home Bargains.\n\n### LATEST DEVELOPMENTS\n\n\n\n\n  * Huge blaze engulfs London church as 70 firefighters rush to tackle raging inferno\n  * Wealthy couple ordered to remove rooftop planters at £2.5m London home after furious neighbour row\n  * Reform would create Ice-style agency amid plans to deport nearly 300,000 people per year\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nFacewatch has since confirmed that Mr Clayton should never have appeared in their database.\n\nThe security company stated that his image and \"the associated record\" had been permanently deleted from the system.\n\nA Facewatch spokesperson indicated that Home Bargains \"has now completed a full review of the incident.\"\n\nIt stressed that it treats the accuracy of its technology with the utmost seriousness and responds swiftly when records fail to meet required standards.\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nThe Facewatch system operates across thousands of shops throughout England and Wales, with retailers uploading reports of suspected shoplifting and violence.\n\nModerators then evaluate CCTV footage and witness accounts before flagging individuals to participating stores.\n\nHome Bargains is among more than 100 retailers using facial recognition cameras to combat theft and protect staff from violence, alongside chains such as Sainsbury's, Asda, Iceland, Sports Direct and Budgens.\n\nResponding to a previous case, Facewatch told GB News that its system operates with \"99.98 per cent accuracy”.\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nA spokesman added that the technology prevented an average of 1,400 thefts and acts of abuse and violence against frontline shopworkers.\n\nA spokesman for the Department of Science, Innovation and Technology responded to the case, stating: \"No one should be wrongly identified and accused due to errors in facial recognition systems.\"\n\nThe department pledged to continue collaborating with the Information Commissioner's Office to ensure regulations remain effective.\n\nGB News has approached Facewatch and Home Bargains for comment.\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n**Our Standards:The GB News Editorial Charter**",
  "title": "Pensioner kicked out of shop after facial recognition technology wrongly identified him as a thief leaving him 'helpless'"
}