Morrisons tells Muslim woman to ‘get on with her shopping’ after complaining about Islamophobic abuse The customer said the alleged incident left her like she ‘was the problem’

A Muslim woman who says she was called a “letterbox” by a customer in a Morrisons store claims the staff told her to “get on with her shopping” after she complained about the Islamophobic abuse.

Shamim, who did not want to give her full name, was shopping in a Morrisons in Walsall, the West Midlands, on Wednesday when she alleges a male customer walked past her and said “letterbox”.

The insult, levelled at Muslim women who choose to wear a veil called a niqab, was famously used last year when the now prime minister Boris Johnson used it in a column in The Telegraph and was later forced to apologise.

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But Shamim claims when she reported the incident to staff she was told the slur was subjective and to “get on with her shopping”.

Morrison’s dispute Shamim’s account, and state staff told her to “please continue with your shopping.”

‘This is clearly offensive and racist’

Shamim said she confronted the man after she claims he insulted her.

She told i: “This man said ‘letterbox’ as he went past me which was loud and clear.

“I had to challenge this individual otherwise he would get away with this. I approached him and asked why he called me that racist word.

“He was quite stunned and looked away, as if he was embarrassed.

“When I told him I had taken a picture of him, he looked very shocked and I didn’t know what to do.

“So I continued to challenge him until a member of staff appeared and I told them what had happened,” she added.

But when a number of staff arrived to find out what was going on, Shamim claims they downplayed the incident. When Shamim said she had recorded footage of the man on her phone to direct to the police, the Morrisons staff member allegedly told Shamin she was “breaching the man’s human rights”.

Shamim told i: “I explained again what he said to me, however the man was quite defensive and started denying it.

“The staff would not really give me a chance to speak and told me to continue shopping as it’s his word against mine.”

The store manager told Shamim the man’s comment was “subjectively” offensive, she said. Although the man allegedly attempted to insult her again, a manager reportedly continued to tell Shamim they didn’t have the power to resolve the incident.

Shamim told i: “Before the man was moved swiftly away accompanied by a staff member he was about to comment on something regarding ‘Britain…’ but he was moved away quite quickly.

“I challenged the so-called people manager on why the man was moved away before he said something even more offensive, but she continued to be dismissive and told me to get on with my shopping, and said there’s nothing they can do,” she added.

‘Morrison’s just brushed it under the carpet’

Using racially charged slurs or Islamophobic language is a hate crime in the UK, and members of the public are encouraged to report incidents to the police.

But Shamim said the incident left her feeling like “I was the problem”.

The woman has lodged a complaint with Morrisons Head Office about the dispute.

Since i published the story, Morrisons has contacted Shamim to respond to her allegation.

She told i: “I left there feeling that Morrisons just brushed it under the carpet and that by raising the man’s bigotry I was the problem.

“I hesitated for a few seconds because unfortunately this is not an uncommon occurrence and it still shocks me that this happens so frequently.

“I have experienced much worse than this, saying that, but there is only so much you can ignore and not challenge. I knew I was in a public place and therefore it was safer to challenge him. If I did not challenge him, I would be accepting this as the norm. It may make him think twice before saying it to other Muslim women.

“I am deeply concerned about Morrisons’ approach, as it is quite a diverse supermarket and there are many Muslims who shop and work there,” she added.

Morrisons told i staff were “unable to intervene” because they did not witness the incident.

A Morrisons spokesperson said: “We do not tolerate racist language in our stores. Our store colleagues did not witness the alleged incident and so were unable to intervene as both customers had different versions of what happened.”

The ‘letterbox’ insult and Boris Johnson

The “letterbox” insult became known after Mr Johnson used it in a Telegraph column.

A row blew up when, in an article arguing against the banning of niqabs or burkas, the former Foreign Secretary called Muslim women who wear the religious veil “letterboxes” and said they look like “bank robbers”.

He said it was “weird and bullying to expect women to cover their faces” and described the burka as “ridiculous”.

He was subject to an inquiry by the Conservative Party, and later apologised for the offence caused.