Thief dubbed 'worst shoplifter' caught with huge package down his trousers

A thief was labelled the 'worst shoplifter' when he tried to steal a massive soundbar by hiding it in his trousers and sneaking out of a shop - but he was caught by security guards.

In a video, the man can be seen with the enormous item sticking out the top of his trousers before he lifts his top and tries to conceal the rest of it in his jacket.

He was caught on CCTV inside HBH Wollacotts, in Bude, Cornwall, and the manager of the store, Chris Hemmerle, found it amusing so shared it online - as reports Cornwall Live.

Chris added that luckily staff were able to catch the thief before he could make it out of the shop on Thursday, June 17, before adding that he "certainly wasn't the sharpest knife in the drawer".

The thief was trying his best to conceal the enormous package (cornwalllive.com)

He continued: "The soundbar he was attempting to steal was probably the biggest one we've got. The area he was in was about halfway down the store and so they left him to it, waited until he walked towards the front door and then confronted him.

"They were able to retrieve the goods. I don't think he said much to them - he seemed to be under the influence of something, according to the store staff.

"I understand the store staff knew who he was."

Chris added that after the video was uploaded to social media he had been inundated with funny comments.

With his jacket pulled over the top of the box the package is almost out of sight (cornwalllive.com)

One commenter noted that if the thief had wanted to steal a VAX cleaner they would need a much bigger pair of trousers while another wrote "is that a soundbar in your trousers sir or are you just pleased to see our deals?"

Another asked: "I wonder where he hid the remote control."

While a second added: "Beats a cucumber or sock down the trousers."

Chris noted that in the footage the shoplifter was seen to knock over a large art portfolio holder.

He said: "Staff asked him to empty his pockets and then open the art folder - inside they found a pair of bolt cutters.

"Every one of our stores has security CCTV and it's important to have enough staff available so they can be alert to shoplifters and fall foul of distraction techniques - although this man was hardly a master thief."

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