Thief sticks middle finger up at honesty box CCTV

A young thief stuck his middle finger up at a CCTV camera as he stole products worth £150 from a cake shop running an honesty box system.

Lee McCann, who owns Mum Made Meals in Grantham, said the theft, in the early hours of Monday, was "soul-destroying" and had a "brutal" impact on his small business.

He said it had made him question the honesty system, where customers are trusted to pay for baked goods kept in an unlocked shed.

Lincolnshire Police said it was investigating the theft, while McCann said the mother of the alleged thief - understood to be a boy of secondary school age - had since offered to pay for the stolen goods.

"It's soul-destroying, because obviously we've got 10 staff that we pay for," McCann said.

"We try and keep our costs down. Most of our products are £3.50 or £4 each, so you can imagine £150 is a lot of stock.

"We have to pay staff wages, we've got the produce to pay for as well, so it was definitely a sting.

"The margins aren't massive. So obviously if someone came in and cleared out the whole shed, it's devastating to a small family business."

But it is not just the financial cost the business is concerned about.

"Emotionally it's not something we can take any more," McCann said. "We do need to put some precautions in place to try and stop this from happening in the future."

One of the options being considered was a vending machine system, which McCann said would "make it a lot less accessible to steal from".

Some regular customers had even offered to help fund the idea.

McCann praised the community's "phenomenal" response to the theft, after he shared details on social media.

The exposure led to the alleged thief's mother getting in touch and offering to pay for the stolen goods.

McCann said police were still pursuing the case against the boy, as his mother wanted him to face repercussions for his actions.

Police confirmed they were investigating the theft, which was the latest in a series of similar crimes across Lincolnshire.

A fortnight before the incident in Grantham, a donation box for donkey carrots was stolen in Burgh-Le-Marsh.

In May, the owner of a Spalding-based cake business thanked someone for his custom before realising he had not put any money in the honesty box after taking goods totalling £80.

In Boston, locals chipped in after a farmer selling sacks of potatoes at a farm gate had 218 stolen.

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