‘Worst shoplifter ever’ caught shoving huge sound system down his trousers

We don’t know much about shoplifting, and we certainly don’t condone it, but we’re pretty sure stealth is the name of the game.

This was apparently lost on one man, however, who attempted to steal a massive speaker set by shoving it down his trousers.

The would-be thief was caught on CCTV inside HBH Woolacotts electronics shop in Cornwall on Thursday afternoon.

The footage shows him pushing the long sound bar down his pants before lifting up his top and trying to hide the device with his jacket.

Unsurprisingly, the concealment was not exactly the most convincing, and staff swiftly caught him before he could escape with his plunder.

Workers at the store soon saw the funny side of the botched theft, sharing the video on social media with the pun: “Do you think he was impressed with our package deals?!”

HBH Woolacotts manager Chris Hemmerle told Cornwall Live the man "certainly wasn’t the sharpest knife in the drawer,” explaining that “the soundbar he was attempting to steal was probably the biggest one we’ve got.”

Describing the moment the attempted crime took place, Hemmerle added: “The area he was in was about halfway down the store and so [the staff] left him to it, waited until he walked towards the front door and then confronted him.

"They were able to retrieve the goods. I don’t think he said much to them - he seemed to be under the influence of something.”

Viewers responded to the video recording with glee, with one Facebook user joking: “Is that a soundbar in your trousers sir or are you just pleased to see our deals?”

Another wrote: “You may be laughing at him now but on previous visits he had a dishwasher, a 60-inch plasma and a range cooker.”

Hemmerle responded: “You don’t want to know how he got the range cooker out…”

Another pointed out that if the man had wanted to nab a VAX cleaner he’d have needed a bigger pair of trousers, while another requested reassurance that the speakers had been given a good clean afterwards.

“It was thoroughly sanitised,” the store’s boss replied, “With fire.”