A ‘well-spoken’ woman, who was accused of shoplifting a bottle of white wine from a boutique grocery store, blamed ‘memory problems’ when confronted.
The incident, captured on CCTV on December 29 in east London, showed the 50-year-old woman sneakily placing a bottle of wine under her coat before exiting the store without paying.
When confronted by staff, who chase her outside, she appeared flustered and attributed her actions to ‘memory problems,’ insinuating she had forgotten to pay for the item.
The store, which posted the incident on TikTok, quickly gained traction, amassing thousands of views and sparking heated online discussions.
The woman in the video denied theft saying, ‘I’m not stealing, I didn’t steal it’, before trying to blame the shopkeeper for being mistaken and accusing them of ‘lying’.
When they threaten to call the police, she immediately storms away down the street.
This comes amid a recent surge across London from middle-class shoplifters, with upmarket stores being frequent targets.
A ‘well-spoken’ woman, who was accused of shoplifting a bottle of white wine from a boutique grocery store, blamed ‘memory problems’ when confronted
Twitter account @CrimeLdn, known for reporting local crime, also shared the video on X, labeling the incident as part of a broader uptick in such offences.
One person even joked: ‘I thought shoplifting in UK was legal now?’
There has been a recent surge across London from middle-class shoplifters, with upmarket stores being frequent targets.
Experts suggest a combination of financial pressures and a sense of entitlement may drive some of these incidents.
Richard Fowler, who manages security at upmarket health food brand Planet Organic, said shoplifting at the Chiswick branch takes place ‘every day’ – and that ‘posh totty’ types are part of the problem.
He claimed the brand loses a staggering £900,000 a year as a result of stealing. The chain has nine stores across London and claims all the products it sells are organic.
Speaking to the BBC, Mr Fowler said: ‘We’ve got our homeless… Then we have what I would call the posh totty people.
‘They shop in Planet Organic on a daily basis, they spend a lot of money with our business.
‘[They think] ”Today I’m a little bit short of money, so I’m entitled to steal something”.’
Richard Fowler (pictured), who manages security at Planet Organic, said shoplifting at the Chiswick branch takes place ‘every day’
Some brazen middle class customers feel ‘entitled’ to steal from Planet Organic because they are regulars, the head of security claimed
Metropolitan Police figures show that 57,453 offences were reported across London last year – an increase from 38,157 in 2022.
Emmeline Taylor, professor of criminology at City University, told the BBC: ‘It’s widely known that the police have been overstretched and under-resourced for over a decade.
‘It is not just about the number of police that have been taken off the streets, it’s also the operational approach and the strategy.’
Shoplifting has risen to the highest level on record, new data revealed in April this year.
Retail bosses accused ministers of allowing shoplifting to become effectively decriminalised, with many police forces failing to attend the majority of reports and failing to gather any evidence when they do.
Less than 40 per cent of shoplifting reports were attended by the Met between April 2022 and April 2023, figures revealed.
Separate data suggests a similar – and often worse – situation in the rest of the country, with forces sending out an officer for just one in five calls related to shoplifting.