Moment protesters get Peckham store at centre of ‘choking refund row’ shut down as it tries to reopen for first time since shopkeeper was accused of throttling woman
This is the moment protesters forced the Peckham shop at the centre of the ‘choking refund row’ to close its shutters on the first day it tried to reopen.
Peckham Hair and Cosmetics store has been at the centre of a storm after a video went viral last month of shopkeeper Sohail Sindho appearing to place his hands around a black woman’s throat.
Mr Sindho has always denied he was choking her and claims he was trying to restrain her after a row over a £7.99 refund for three wigs became heated. The video has sparked a string of protests in the last four weeks, forcing the shop to close and sending the trader into hiding.
MailOnline can confirm the store reopened its doors on Sunday, but was forced to lower the shutters after it was greeted by protesters wearing Campaign For Truth and Justice (CTJ) T-shirts.
The shop’s manager, Khurram, who did not wish to give his surname, told MailOnline they have had to shut early for the last three days and claimed that protesters were stopping people from entering the shop.
‘This is our bread and butter – how are we going to pay the money for our rent and everything?,’ he said.
Staff at Peckham Hair and Cosmetics close the shutters of the store after protesters gathered outside on the first day it reopened month after ‘choking refund row’
Shopkeeper Sohail Sindho was shown in the viral video appearing to grab a shopper around the neck as she tries to free herself by hitting him with the shopping basket
A two-minute video posted on X shows a Metropolitan Police officer speaking to the activists on Sunday telling them not to engage with staff or be provocative as a campaigner says: ‘Shut it [the shop] down.’
READ MORE: Peckham shopkeeper at centre of ‘choking’ row takes refuge from angry demonstrators in secret hideout and hits back at ‘racism’ accusations
Glum-looking staff start to close the shutters as a female voice is heard vowing: ‘We will be out here every day making sure that you do not serve people. So we are ready for you. We are ready.’
They are then heard shouting: ‘You touch one, you touch all.’
CTJ describes itself on its website as ‘fighting judicial corruption and human rights abuses in the UK’.
The Metropolitan Police confirmed officers were called to the store yesterday due to a protest.
‘It was reported that people were being prevented from entering the shop,’ a Scotland Yard spokesman said.
‘Officers attended and found the protest was peaceful and good natured and people were not being blocked from entering the shop.’
Last week, pictures emerged of the Rye Lane shop preparing to reopen when a unknown masked figure was seen removing protest flyers which had been plastered over its frontage for the last month.
A two-minute video posted on X shows a Metropolitan Police officer speaking to the activists on Sunday telling them not to engage with staff or be provocative
Protesters said they would return to the site every day to make sure the shop stayed closed
The shop in Peckham was shuttered after protesters gathered outside as it tried to reopen
Police said they found protesters outside of the shop and that the ‘protest was peaceful and good natured’
Police who attended the protest said ‘people were not being blocked from entering the shop’
A figure could be seen taking down the posters and notes that had been put on the shop
The shop owned by Mr Sindho in Rye Lane Peckham, South London, has seen angry demonstrations after a video of him appearing to put his hands around a woman’s neck went viral
Mr Sindho sat down to give his side of the row to MailOnline last month.
READ MORE: Shopkeeper who was filmed ‘strangling a woman’ in Peckham insists he was ‘detaining, not choking’ her in row over no refund policy
He showed scars to his right eye and his shoulder which he said were the result of the woman hitting him with a shopping basket.
He revealed he had separated from his wife and three sons and taken them out of school while angry crowds continued to congregate outside his shop.
‘If it wasn’t for my wife and three children I would walk right to the shop and out to the street and talk to the people, because I am very sorry about what happened,’ he said.
‘I want them to know that I was only trying to restrain her. I didn’t mean to put my hands around her throat, and it was only for a few seconds.
‘I do agree that I should not have done that. But I was trying to protect myself as she was hitting me as the video shows.
‘Some people have said that it might have been racial because I am Pakistani and she is a black lady. That is absolutely not the truth.
‘I want you to know that 99 percent of my customers are people of colour. They are like my family. I don’t know what being racist means.
‘I live and work in a multicultural place, and I am happy here and so are my family.’
Mr Sindho spoke to MailOnline at his secret hideout, where he has taken refuge from angry protesters, following the viral video which shows him grappling with a female customer
He revealed his shock at the video of him confronting the woman going viral after being posted on social media. He received a call from a friend and then the threats started.
The woman he grappled with, like Mr Sindho, has been interviewed by police and released on bail.
He said the whole matter rested on three wigs worth £7.99 each which the lady wanted to have a refund on. But he pointed out to her that her receipt clearly showed no refunds were available, but he had offered her an exchange.
Mr Sindho said he had received hate calls from as far as America with people threatening his life. But he added: ‘When the police came and they took her away, I told them I did not want her to be charged. It was all a heat of the moment thing, nothing more than that.
‘I am hoping that I can meet with her and we can shake hands and reach a peaceful conclusion.
‘I have two college degrees and am not a simple man. I have friends from as far as China and I don’t see people’s colour. You could say that I am colour blind.’
Mr Sindho said he believed activists were ‘inflaming’ the situation and he hoped he could soon be allowed out of hiding.
Asked what would happen to his business, he held his head in his hands and said: ‘I don’t know. I just want peace and to know my family are going to be safe.’
MailOnline has contacted CTJ for comment.
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