STAFF members at a Kingstone store will now be given body cams for protection - more than a year after one worker was stabbed during a robbery.

The incident occurred at around 9.30pm on July 20 last year after a man, Wesley Glover, entered the Co-op on Keresforth Hill Road and stabbed a member of staff.

He then stole a number of bottles of spirits before leaving the store - the 49-year-old male employee suffered minor injuries to his abdomen but did not require hospital treatment.

Glover, 29, appeared at Sheffield Magistrates’ Court in March this year and pleaded guilty to three counts of robbery between July 17 and July 26 in 2020.

Glover robbed two shops in Sheffield as well as the Barnsley store and was subsequently jailed for nine years.

Staff in the store will now be handed body cameras following a successful trial by the Co-op.

Nicola Walton, loss prevention advisor, said: “This will provide us with another tool in our efforts to have a zero-tolerance approach to any type of crime towards our colleagues and customers.

“We now ask shoppers to work with us to make sure that nobody has to face abuse in their place of work.”

Barnsley Central MP Dan Jarvis, who has a long-standing track record of campaigning on the issue of improving safety for retail workers, added: “This will help to improve the safety, morale and confidence of retail workers; and provide an invaluable tool to bring those who attack shop workers to justice.

“It’s deplorable that our hard-working retail staff are faced with violence, threats and intimidation for doing their jobs.

“I will continue to campaign to ensure that no-one is subject to these appalling acts in the workplace.”