This is the moment a suspected thief was cornered by a horde of angry Asda workers after trying to escape from the supermarket.
Footage of the incident was taken at an Asda superstore in Marshall Road, Leyton, east London on Wednesday evening.
The alleged crook was held near the sandwich display at the exit while staff members searched the pockets of his coat.
Three bottles, understood to be alcohol, were allegedly found on him.
During the altercation, one of the employees lifted a shopping crate over his head and appeared to threaten the alleged crook
The alleged thief was held near the sandwich display at the exit while staff members searched the pockets of his coat
One of the bottles smashed on the floor as one worker passed them to another.
During the altercation, one of the employees lifted a shopping crate over his head and appeared to threaten him.
One of them said: ‘Go, go, go, go, go.’
Another added: ‘Get him out.’
The alleged crook was then frogmarched out of the shop.
Local Lee Harvey said: ‘The shop workers are fighting back.’
Omar Reynolds added: ‘Great staff.
Three bottles, understood to be alcohol , were allegedly found on the suspected shoplifter
The incident comes after a spate of shoplifting across the UK with figures suggesting it is at a 20-year high
‘It’s a shame your justice system rewards shoplifting.’
Another joked: ‘Man only wants a meal deal.’
A fourth said: ‘Brother really wanted the basket shot to the face.’
MailOnline contacted Asda and the Met Police for comment.
It follows a spate of shoplifting across the UK. Figures released by the Office for National Statistics revealed shoplifting is at a 20-year high.
Almost 444,000 crimes were recorded by forces in England and Wales in the year to March, up from 342,428 in the previous 12 months.
This is the highest figure since records began in 2003, according to the Office for National Statistics.
But industry figures say underreporting means shoplifting is even more endemic than currently thought, with many store owners not bothering to report offences to overwhelmed police and criminal gangs operating without any fear of being caught.
Cops are dealing with 50 offences an hour.
A security guard tried to prevent a crook from stealing four cans of beer from a BP garage in Northolt on Sunday.
On the same day a Poundland worker attempted to block a thief in Greenford.
On Wednesday, a shoplifter stole goods from Boots in Barnet despite shoppers trying to stop him.
A customer at the store in Barnet tells one of the men ‘you need to stop’. He replies ‘yeah, I’m going innit’ as he continues stripping shelves with no attempt to hide what he is doing
A customer at the store in Barnet tells one of the men ‘you need to stop’. He replies ‘yeah, I’m going innit’ as he continues stripping shelves with no attempt to hide what he is doing.
Professor Joshua Bamfield Director, Centre for Retail Research, said the rise of shoplifting was being driven by the perception that it was a risk-free crime.
He told MailOnline: ‘At one time, shoplifting used to be a sort of craft where people didn’t want to get caught because they knew they’d be trouble, but now people don’t even bother because there’s a perception nothing much will happen to you.
‘A lot of retail crime now is organised, with people stealing large quantities of products like alcohol, meat and designer clothes. They are linked to other criminals who sell it on elsewhere.
‘The fact thefts below £200 are not pursued and there are a lot of demands on officers mean retailers have found it very difficult to get the kind of support they require.’
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said the data illustrated the ‘disgraceful dereliction’ of the previous government on law and order, as Labour vowed to tackle low-level shoplifting and make assaulting a shopworker a specific criminal offence.
Separate data from the Association of Convenience Stores (ACS) estimates retailers have recorded more than 5.6million incidents of theft over the last year.
