BRAZEN thieves are plundering a Waitrose shop almost every day — as security guards watch helpless and do nothing.
Footage shows the duo packing at least 13 bottles of booze into a Deliveroo bag in 45 seconds before storming out unmolested.
A clip of Wednesday’s raid was posted online by Shadow Justice Secretary Robert Jenrick to show, he said, Labour had lost control of Britain’s streets.
We returned to the shop in Clerkenwell, North London, on Thursday and saw two thieves — one of them from the night before — take yet more booze.
Store security guard Craig Wincarr said he could not intervene for fear of being sacked.
He said: “They basically come in most evenings and go for the alcohol and it boils my blood.
“We can’t do anything about it as we’re told not to tackle them.
“We’re basically here as a deterrent for middle-class chancers, not professionals. I feel like a lemon these days.”
Shop regular Francesca Di Fonzo said: “Every other day there is an incident.
“You just carry on with your shop and you hope that they’re not armed.”
Local resident John Bridge said: “They’re quite brazen.”
Alison Wigmore, 73, said she yelled at two teenage would-be booze thieves to stop them.
She said: “I get that the justice system is on its knees, but how are businesses supposed to survive if the police they pay for with taxes won’t keep law and order at a minimum?”
Our reporters found a nearby shop, Retail 24, selling Marks & Spencer booze with the firm’s name blacked out with a pen.
Sei Sharan, shift manager at a nearby Tesco, told us: “We report incidents to police but nothing happens. There’s this one guy who comes in every day.”
Waitrose said it employed staff trained to detain shoplifters “when safe to do so” and — as with the Clerkenwell store thefts and others — submitted body-worn camera footage to police.
Tesco said it had invested heavily in security systems.
Mr Jenrick said: “Shoplifting has essentially been legalised in this country.
“These scumbags need to be locked up. It’s the only way to stop this farce.”
Shocking number of shoplifting cases that go unsolved EVERY DAY
By Martina Bet
ALMOST 800 shoplifting cases a day went unsolved last year, official figures reveal.
Some 289,464 were closed with no suspect identified in 2024/25 — 18 per cent up on the year before.
Overall, no suspect was identified in 55 per cent of all shoplifting probes — and only 18 per cent led to charges.
It comes after figures last month showed shoplifting cases rocketed 20 per cent last year from 444,022 to 530,643, a high since records began in 2002/03.
The latest figures, for all forces in England — except Humberside — and Wales were compiled for the Lib Dems by the House of Commons Library.
They revealed 793 cases a day went unsolved.
London’s Met had the worst record — with 76.9 per cent of its 93,705 cases shut without a suspect, and just 5.9 per cent ending in a charge.
Thames Valley Police and Crime Commissioner Matthew Barber sparked outrage by claiming the public should “challenge” shoplifters instead of relying on cops.
Lib Dem MP Joshua Reynolds, a supermarket manager before entering politics, called the remark “reckless”.
He said: “Senior police chiefs should be protecting us, not passing the buck to the public.”
The Government insisted it is increasing the number of police and patrols.
It also said it will “end the effective immunity for theft of goods under £200 and bring in a specific offence for assaulting retail workers”.
