Man on the run: A role at Sainsbury’s awaits

Supermarket Sainsbury’s this week found something had gone wrong in their recruitment process – they had hired a fugitive who had been on the run from the US for nine years.
Thu, 9 May 2013Supermarket Sainsbury’s this week found something had gone wrong in their recruitment process – they had hired a fugitive who had been on the run from the US for nine years.

As reported today in the Daily Mirror, Guyana-born Sean Lopes, wanted by the US for kidnapping and illegally possessing a weapon, has been working for the retailer and been living in the UK since 2010.

Lopes, who was described to the Mirror by one neighbour as a “smashing chap”, was arrested this week and remains in custody.

Sainsbury’s confirmed that a member of staff from its Pepper Hill, Gravesend store was arrested on Monday, but a spokesperson tells Recruiter that “because this is now in the hands of the police… we’re limited as to what we can say”. The retailer said it was helping the police with their investigations.

Recruiter asked whether the company was able to comment on how Lopes, details of who were publically available on the website of global policing organisation Interpol, had slipped through the net, or what it might do to avoid this risk in the future.

The spokesperson replied: “We can’t comment on this case specifically, but all new recruits are, of course, required to disclose any previous convictions and we run background checks based on the police database.”

The Mirror reports that Lopes is believed to have travelled out of the US using his brother’s documents.

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