An east London shop owner has accused the Met Police of failing to investigate after a man was filmed climbing over a counter at his store.
Mohamed Fahad tweeted at Newham Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) asking them if they had the “balls” to catch a man who can be seen attempting to clamber over a glass counter holding phones in the shop.
The shop owner took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to share the footage and vent his frustration at the incident, claiming the police had visited a month before to carry checks in a way that “disrupted” business.
The video, which appears to come from CCTV footage, shows a confrontation between the man and a shop worker, who attempts to stop him reaching behind the counter.
It is not known what the alleged confrontation was related to.
After the shop worker tries to stop him, he persists and begins climbing over the counter in an attempt to carry on.
Following a brief struggle, he leaves the shop after appearing to try and grab a phone.
Mr Fahad tweeted: “Last month you guys came to my shop to see if I was selling any stolen phone and disrupted my business.
“This happened today in my shop, do you have the balls to catch this guy?”
After an MPS X account responded to his post asking him to contact for further discussion, he reiterated his claim that police had come to investigate alleged stolen phones but not such attempted incidents.
The MPS was contacted for comment by the Telegraph.
Shoplifting offences
According to the MPS’s data dashboard, there were a reported 57,452 shoplifting offences between the start of January and end of December 2023.
Newham was one of the London boroughs with the higher numbers of reported incidents at 2,195, although still far below the highest ranked Westminster at 4,988.
Other boroughs reporting large numbers of reported incidents include Croydon, Camden and Bromley.
The Telegraph reported in April that the MPS has the worst rate for solving shoplifting offences among forces in the country.
Data analysis from the Telegraph found that the MPS solved five times fewer shop thefts in 2023 than Norfolk – which was the best performing force.