Green Party councillor Repi Begum says she was verbally abused and threatened by a group of customers inside JD Sports in Swindon town centre at around 12.15pm on Friday 3 January 2026.
Cllr Begum, who is a qualified solicitor and previously taught law and sociology at Swindon College, said the incident happened while she was shopping with her two children, aged 10 and 4.
“This is the man that told me ‘to get back on my boat’. His little friend behind him was also intimidating and goading his older mates on,” she said.
She described how the situation escalated quickly.
“What started as an older man repeatedly circling and muttering at me quickly escalated. He squared up to me, got in my face and accused me of calling him a name,” she said.
Cllr Begum said she tried to avoid confrontation.
“I had called him a name only after two attempts to defuse and ignore the situation. I wasn’t going to sit down and take it,” she said.
She said the intimidation intensified as others joined in.
“He was then joined by several others who spoke over me while trying to intimidate me. I was with my children, 10 and 4 years old. There were at least a half dozen of them,” she said.
One remark, she said, was clearly racist.
“One man clearly told me to ‘go back on your boat’. I asked him to repeat it. He did. That is racism. Full stop,” she said.
Cllr Begum said she was deeply concerned by the lack of intervention from staff at the time.
“Throughout this entire incident, JD Sports staff did nothing. They continued serving customers while I was being harassed and threatened. No intervention. No safeguarding. No escalation,” she said.
She said a staff member later warned her about what was happening outside.
“Before the two supervisors approached me, a staff member said, ‘don’t leave now please as I think they are waiting for you outside’. The gall of it,” she said.
Another member of staff later confirmed witnessing the intimidation.
“An 18-year-old mixed heritage young woman told me she had seen the first male follow me and try and intimidate me. That’s when I spoke at length with them about their failings, and that’s when the supervisors approached me,” she said.
Cllr Begum said one supervisor, later identified as an assistant manager, admitted staff had “let her down”.
She added that the same group waited outside the store for up to 15 minutes.
“To make matters worse, they waited outside the store for 10 to 15 minutes, increasing my fear and distress, especially as I had my young children with me,” she said.
The incident has since been reported to police.
“I have reported this to the police. They have a picture of two of the men, the one that told me to get back on the boat and his younger sidekick,” she said, adding that officers have obtained council CCTV and are awaiting footage from the store.
JD Sports has now issued a detailed written response to Cllr Begum, acknowledging shortcomings in how the incident was handled.
“I want to begin by expressing how seriously we take your complaint,” the company said in a statement from its Customer Champions Team.
JD confirmed that the matter was escalated to an Area Sales Manager and fully investigated.
“The investigation confirmed that our Assistant Manager, who was on the till at the time, became aware of the situation after it had occurred. I must acknowledge that our team’s response fell short of the standard we expect,” the statement said.
JD Sports said staff should have acted sooner.
“Whilst staff did offer to contact the police on your behalf, they should have intervened much sooner to prevent the harassment and intimidation from escalating in the way that it did,” the company said.
The retailer said it operates a zero-tolerance approach.
“At JD Sports, we have a zero-tolerance approach to any form of discrimination, harassment or threatening behaviour within our stores. Our expectation is that store teams should intervene promptly when they witness such incidents, prioritising customer safety above all other activities,” the statement said.
JD added that staff are instructed to ask offending customers to leave immediately and offer support to those targeted.
Addressing why staff did not intervene, JD said team members reported they were serving customers and did not hear the full extent of what was happening, but added, “this does not excuse the lack of intervention”.
“The fact that a member of staff later confirmed witnessing the initial intimidation and abuse demonstrates that the incident was visible to the team, and earlier action should have been taken,” the statement said.
JD Sports said store management has been instructed to reinforce expectations around intervention and is reviewing response procedures to ensure customer safety is prioritised.
“The apology you received from the supervisor on site was appropriate, but it does not change the fact that we failed to protect you when you needed us to,” the company said.
Wiltshire Police have said ;
“Our enquiries into the incident are ongoing.”
Cllr Begum said the incident was particularly painful given her deep roots in Swindon.
“I am a mother of three. All of my children were born in Swindon GWH. I am the eldest of six, and apart from one sister, we all live in Swindon,” she said.
She described her family as being embedded in the town across a wide range of professions, including the NHS, education, IT, law, HR and taxi driving.
“We are a family of givers. That’s the best way to describe us,” she said.
Cllr Begum commits to extensive community and charity work across Swindon, including litter picks, graffiti cleaning, helping residents with medical appointments, mentoring women into employment, and supporting organisations such as Swindon Stand Up To Racism, Connecting Communities and the International Food Fair.
She has also raised significant funds for charities including the MND Association, Brighter Futures and the NSPCC, and continues to use sport and fitness initiatives to promote inclusion and remove barriers for women.
“No one should have to tolerate racism, intimidation or threats while shopping,” she said. “Silence or inaction enables racism.”
