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The major retailer admitted he was wrongly ejected due to 'human error' a day later

Sainsbury's has suspended its use of live facial recognition after an innocent shoplifter was wrongly accused of shoplifting.

Matt Arnold, a comedy promoter, scanned his loyalty card and was waiting to pay at one of the retailer's branches in East Dulwich in south east London when he was approached by security at a self-service till.

He waved at the staff member "asking to be checked" as he was purchasing a number of alcoholic drinks, as well as soft drinks and snacks, which he was purchasing for performers.

The 46-year-old was instructed to leave the store on August 6 while he was told he was unable to be served "because of what happened earlier in the week".

"It’s really worrying. If they challenge someone who might have anxiety or other issues, it could be really damaging to them to be accused of being a thief in public," Mr Arnold told The Telegraph.

With 10 minutes to go until the comedy promoter needed the refreshments, Mr Arnold asked if his colleague could pay for the items instead, to which the staff agreed.

At the scene, he was escorted off the site and, instead, should contact the security system in charge of the technology, Facewatch.

A day later, Sainsbury’s admitted he was wrongly ejected due to "human error".

They explained that there had been "a shoplifter in the shop but the store staff, who were said to have failed to activate their body-worn cameras, targeted the wrong person".

In a bid to quell Mr Arnold's upset, they handed him a £150 goodwill voucher from the store, which he went on to donate to a local foodbank.

Big Brother Watch's CEO, Silkie Carlo, told GB News that Facewatch, which operates the tech, shares its data across several branches, meaning that people could be banned from stores without even knowing.

She explained that "serious mistakes are inevitable when a national retailer does hundreds of thousands of ID checks indiscriminately with this sinister surveillance tech".

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Ms Carlo continued: "This man was humiliated and publicly accused of crimes he hadn’t committed in front of colleagues.

"Not only is mass facial recognition like this a grave invasion of shoppers’ privacy but false accusations like this could affect people’s jobs and relationships.

"Worse, Facewatch shares its data across multiple stores, meaning people can find themselves electronically blacklisted from their supermarkets and high streets with no fair process and without even being told.

"Supermarkets must take anti-theft measures but live facial recognition is an Orwellian nightmare that does nothing to stop hardened thieves whilst stealing the privacy rights of millions of paying customers.

"Sainsbury’s should drop live facial recognition urgently, before more appalling incidents like this happen."

A Sainsbury's spokesman said: "We are in touch with Mr Arnold about his experience at our Dulwich superstore.

"We're reviewing what happened on this occasion and in the meantime the system at Dulwich is suspended while we investigate further.

"We can reassure customers that the Facewatch system has a 99.98 per cent accuracy rate and all matches are reviewed by trained managers."