Police Interceptors viewers watch as man headbutts off-duty officer at Sainsbury's self serve check-out in Sixfields
Viewers were left stunned as TV camera crews caught a man headbutting an off-duty police officer at Sainsbury’s self serve check-out in Northampton.
The dramatic incident happened at the Sixfields Sainsbury’s in Weedon Road in April 2024.
An off-duty police officer was in the supermarket when two men were suspected to be shoplifting. The officer intervened and as on-duty police officers arrived at the scene, what unfolded next was caught on camera, as crews for Channel 5’s Police Interceptors programme were with the police force at the time.
The episode aired in January 2026 and showed the shocking reality of the dangers police officers face every day.
The suspect was unwilling to stay put and talk to the officer, so a grapple happened as the off-duty officer attempted to detain him, without any equipment. The suspect continuously shouted ‘get off of me’ and then headbutted the officer in the mouth. Call handlers also said the officer’s eye had been pulled. The off-duty officer later revealed that his tooth had been knocked out when he was headbutted.
A fellow officer told cameras: “Unfortunately this time a cop did get hurt, but it’s the reality of the job and it’s important to show this sort of thing because it’s what we do on a day-to-day basis.”
Both suspects were arrested at the scene.
A Northamptonshire Police spokeswoman confirmed that both suspects had the theft from shop charges discontinued.
However, the man who injured the off-duty officer was charged with assault by beating. He was sentenced at Northampton Magistrates’ Court on July 25, 2024 to 23 weeks imprisonment and ordered to pay £1,285.20 in compensation.