This is the shocking moment a shoplifter casually stuffs his bag with items before pushing his way past staff in a bid to flee.
The relaxed thief was filmed brazenly pulling items from the shelf into his duffel bag whilst making eye contact with the camera at a Marks & Spencer’s on Chancery Lane.
Unfazed, the thief keeps tucking away items even as a staff member confronts him and asks that he place the items in his basket on December 23.
Persistently defying the retail worker, the man begins to walk out of the store despite the Marks & Spencer staff member standing in his path.
As the retail worker repeatedly pleads with the thief, he attempts to shove his way past in an attempt to exit with a bag filled with goods.
Using the metal basket to push the staff member out of his way, the storms his way out of the doors at the Holborn branch.
Still donning his headphones he pushes his way through the barriers, seemingly without paying, sparking repeated bleeping sounds as he flees into the night.
Members of the public have been left stunned by the clip, which has been viewed over five million times online.
The relaxed thief brazenly stashed away items in his bag at the M&S store on Chancery Lane on December 23
Despite being confronted by a member of staff, the thief persists in taking items from the shelf and putting them in his duffel bag
In an attempt to flee, the man pushes his way past the retail worker as he makes off with the goods
‘Thieves make prices skyrocket for the rest of us hard working people,’ one quipped.
A second added: ‘Every food shop all over London sees this regularly. It is a disgrace.’
Another chimed in: ‘Zero tolerance for thieves, straight to jail,’ whilst a fourth quipped: ‘That staff member went above and beyond.’
Angered viewers noted that this had become the ‘norm’ in the British Isles, whilst another added: ‘Shoplifting used to be an offence once.’
Helen Dickinson, Chief Executive of the British Retail Consortium said: ‘Retail workers are facing unprecedented levels of violence and abuse.
‘No one should go to work and fear for their safety.’
According to the British Retail Consortium, retail crime is soaring at an alarming rate, with 850 incidents of violence and abuse occurring against retail workers daily.
Nearly 700 shoplifting offences go unsolved every day, figures show amid a crime wave this festive season.
In the last year, 245,500 shoplifting offence cases were closed without a suspect being identified – averaging 672 a day.
Overall, 56.4 per cent of the 434,925 shoplifting cases in the year to March 2024 fell into this category – up from 48.9 per cent five years ago.
Unsolved offences have jumped 38 per cent in five years, according to analysis by the House of Commons Library for the Liberal Democrats.
The party last night warned that shoplifters were able to ‘act with impunity’, claiming crimes were ‘effectively legalised’, as police are unlikely to properly investigate.
Around only one in six (17.2 per cent) of shoplifting cases led to a suspect being charged or summonsed, down from one in five in 2018/19.
MailOnline has approached Marks and Spencer and the Met Police for comment.
