Kmart worker attacked: Moment employee was struck in the face by a young mum, forcing a law change to protect retail workers

The shocking moment a brazen young mother punched an elderly shop assistant in the face and sent her flying has led to a change in the law to protect shop workers.

Christine Smith, 69, was checking receipts at Campbelltown Kmart in Sydney’s southwest when she approached a customer with an overflowing cart full of goods as she left the store.

But when she put a hand on the retailer’s shopping trolley, the then 26-year-old woman lashed out without warning and punched Ms Smith in the face before fleeing the store.

Mrs. Smith was spun around by the impact, leaving her bleeding and bruised with two black eyes, writhing in pain on the ground.

She needed four months of intensive physical and psychological therapy to recover before she could work again.

“It was like boxing – she just went to bat,” Ms Smith said afterwards.

Now the NSW Government has introduced tougher new laws to protect retail workers amid warnings of more similar incidents in the run-up to Christmas.

Christine Smith, 69, was spun around by the impact that left her bleeding and bruised with two black eyes, writhing in pain on the ground

There is now a specific violent offense against retail workers, doubling the maximum prison sentence for assault without actual bodily harm to four years.

Anyone convicted of injuring or causing grievous bodily harm now faces a prison sentence of up to 11 years, increased by 10 years.

The wild attacker was eventually tracked down and convicted by police in 2019, but her nine-month suspended sentence was later reduced on appeal.

Ms Smith – who still works in the same Kmart store after 30 years – says the light sentence given to her attacker was the biggest blow.

“That was the heartbreaking part,” she told the newspaper Daily telegram. ‘I’m a tough old bird. But if that happened to a 15-year-old, it could be damaging for life.”

Authorities have warned of a greater risk of attacks on store workers this Christmas as stores face staff shortages and stressed customers face cost-of-living pressures.

Work Health and Safety Minister Sophie Cotsis told the NSW Parliament the new laws were “all about protecting workers like Christine”.

The ferocious attacker, then 26, was eventually tracked down and convicted by police in 2019, but her nine-month suspended sentence was later reduced on appeal

In the wake of the new laws passed in June, the Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees Association has joined retailers and shopping centers to launch an advertising campaign to raise awareness and stamp out attacks on retail workers.

SDA NSW Secretary Bernie Smith added: “It is really important that stories like Christine’s are told.

“We would be the happiest people in the world if no one was charged under the new laws because their behavior changed.”