A Nando’s waitress feels ‘grossly let down’ by police who released a customer who slapped her in the face with a plate.
Viral social media footage showed the man whacking the waitress as she placed food on the table, where he was sat with a woman and child.
Police attended the Nando’s restaurant in Stratford, London, where a report of assault was made.
But it seems they didn’t take any action against the suspected attacker.
As the video racked up more than 20million views, a woman claiming to be the waitress wrote on social media: ‘They let him go without taking his details or checking the CCTV.
‘I filed a complaint against the officers and their supervisor got back to me and essentially said “they’re humans and made a mistake”.’
Even the Met Police admitted the report ‘was not progressed promptly by officers’ when it was made following the incident in March.
Five months later, the investigation appears to have been re-opened after footage of the incident went viral.
‘I don’t think the situation would have garnered as much attention as it has, but the support has been overwhelming’, the waitress said in a seven-minute video.
‘So with all the attention that the video has gotten and seeing everything in the news about violence against women, violence against young women, the violence against girls, I think it’s important to speak up about what actually took place.
‘Before explaining [what happened], I want to say what’s more concerning than the mass behaviour was the failure of the Metropolitan Police and their conduct.
‘I was grossly let down by them. They have reopened the investigation now.
To get the latest news from the capital visit Metro.co.uk's London news hub.
‘Thanks for all of the support and the attention it’s been receiving online. And for that I’m grateful.
‘However, I was really disappointed and let down with what happened at the time with the police.’
A Met Police spokesperson said: ‘We are aware of a video circulating online showing an incident in a branch of Nando’s in Stratford which took place in March.
‘A report of assault was made to police at the time of the incident, however, it appears this was not progressed promptly by officers.
‘We are working to establish why this happened and accept this is not the level of service Londoners should rightfully expect from the Met.
‘We have since made contact with the victim and a statement has been taken – we will endeavour to keep her updated with the progress of this investigation.
‘There has been no arrest and enquiries are ongoing to locate the man involved.’
A spokesperson for Nando’s said: ‘This was a shocking and unprovoked attack earlier this year.
‘We reported it to the police immediately and have supported our colleague since.
‘We will not tolerate this kind of behaviour, the safety of our colleagues and customers is our priority.’
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
For more stories like this, check our news page.
