Breastfeeding Mother In Primark Row To Appear In Court


A breastfeeding mother who claimed a Primark security guard assaulted her in store is to appear in court. Leicestershire Police announced that she has been charged with “perverting the course of justice,” and her appearance at the Magistrate’s Court has been scheduled for August 24, 2015. The clothes store categorically denied the claims that were made, and insists it has a breastfeeding-friendly policy for all customers.

On July 13, 28-year-old Caroline Starmer made headlines when she claimed a security guard had told her to stop breastfeeding. She said the man grabbed her nine-month-old baby from her breast and walked out of the store with her. The mother was forced to follow. Primark instantly denied the claim, stating that it followed a breastfeeding-friendly policy. The store manager looked through CCTV footage to see that nothing she claimed had happened, and the store sent the footage to police. Huffington Post reported that Primark insisted all the security guards on duty at the time had been questioned regarding the incident, and nobody knew anything about it.

According to the Independent, Primark has worked with the police fully and will now stop commenting on the investigation. However, a spokesperson has said that the company will continue to offer an enjoyable and comfortable experience in all stores, and that includes allowing breastfeeding mothers to take care of their children.

It is against the law in the United Kingdom for any public place to prevent women from breastfeeding. This is a popular topic at the moment, due to various companies allegedly trying to break the law. There is also the issue of other customers being rude to breastfeeding mothers while tending to their children’s needs.

The woman in question did harm Primark’s reputation temporarily. As well as telling her story to the media, she shared her alleged experience on a Facebook group specifically for breastfeeding mothers. Free to Feed, the Facebook group, did inform its group members later that the incident was being investigated and asked for the footage to share it with the group. This never happened, so the page asked for witnesses, but no one came forward.

As I’m sure you are all aware, Primark have denied that an incident took place in their Leicester branch yesterday,…

Posted by Free to Feed on Tuesday, 14 July 2015

The group has since updated members with the news, but has made it clear that it cannot be discussed on the page. Shared media information was just for an update so all members knew the truth.

Mrs. Starmer has not spoken out since her original post about the alleged incident in Primark.

[Photo by Matt Cardy / Getty Images]

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