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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To think that if Tesco suspected Anthony Worrall Thompson of shoplifting...

100 replies

WorraLiberty · 09/01/2012 11:36

They should have treated him like any other customer and not set up a special camera to 'make sure he hadn't not paid by accident' Confused

I can't imagine them doing this for anyone else Hmm

www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-stories/2012/01/09/anthony-worrall-thompson-arrested-for-shoplifting-cheese-and-wine-115875-23691059/

OP posts:
festi · 09/01/2012 23:55

but what is your argument? that is true and cant be argued with, but it also makes no argument and when put with your opening statement, you imply that any reason has no relevence, when it does.

perceptionreality · 09/01/2012 23:58

Winona Ryder apparently stole for the thrill.

KatieScarlett2833 · 10/01/2012 00:01

How about he stole because:

a) He thought he'd get away with it as his ego is the size of Mars?
b) He wanted free stuff
c) He's a common thief

RedBlanket · 10/01/2012 00:02

Sorry to sidetrack, but how the fuck did he manage to get anything into the bag at the self checkout without the machine going loopy? That's what people really want to know.

Kewcumber · 10/01/2012 00:04

I'm gussing he stole for the same reason that High Grant picked up a prostitute when he could have had free sex from any number of classier women. The thrill of the forbidden.

Of course the fantasy "thrill" rarely includes the thrill of being fingerprinted and photographed down the police station.

Doing things you shouldn't do doesn't make you mentally ill Confused

Kellogg · 10/01/2012 00:08

I am not saying that there can't be deeper reasons behind the theft and if here are I hope he gets the help he needs.

However when a poor person steals they are just a criminal in need of punishment , when a celeb does it they are ill and in need of understanding .

KatieScarlett2833 · 10/01/2012 00:10

OK, If you say so..... Hmm

festi · 10/01/2012 00:25

and im not saying it is mental illness either, but there is a reason that needs addressing.

WTAF · 10/01/2012 01:01

i dont feel sorry for him at all, he has a public profile which he uses to his advantage when he chooses to, he made his career and he has chose to steal!

Couldn't agree more, 4madboys . I'm no fan of Gordon Ramsay but I must admit to a little giggle when he referred to AWT (ages ago now, not in light of today's news) as the Ready Steady Twat. And it was no mistake, he did it 5 times over a few days! I'm glad he's being shown up in the press, hopefully he'll not be on the telly so much now.

VivaLeBeaver · 10/01/2012 08:42

How did he do it?

Scan one item and put it in the bag, pretend to scan next item and stick it in a bag by your feet or in your pocket. Continue. Hope that the supervising person or CCTV doesn't spot you.

mrsjay · 10/01/2012 08:59

I dont know why there is such a wave of sympathy for AWT ? is it because he was in the papers humiliated so he should be humiliated he stole from tescos ? is it because he is AWT and such a good guy that this is just a blip in his personality , he did it cause he got away with it , I know alot of people with mental health problems they do not steal cheese , if it was scum like pete doherty i think the view would be different , AWT is not a nice bloke hes a twat who stole because he probably thought look self service tills lets see if i can walk through it ,

HipHopOpotomus · 10/01/2012 10:34

yes he is humiliated and he is very sorry because he got caught stealing!! And stealing FOOD when he is a chef. Couldn't he steal food/wine from his own restaurants?

I wonder how much he actually stole - he was caught 5 times in 16 days, so clearly this is ingrained habitual behaviour. He must have been habitually stealing every time he went there which was every 3 days or so.

I'm also wondering how he got around the screechy voice telling you off "Please put the item in the bagging area" - he must know some nifty tricks!

LunaticFringe · 10/01/2012 10:45

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

mrsjay · 10/01/2012 10:50

does he still have reasturants ? i read he had to close them down ? I dont think he is sorry i think he is sorry he got caught ,

MrsJAlfredPrufrock · 10/01/2012 10:56

He's clearly desperately short of money, but unwilling to go without cheese and wine.

clam · 10/01/2012 11:08

Rhinestone's right. He stole, so he's a thief. The reasons behind why he's a thief does not change that fact.

Chubfuddler · 10/01/2012 11:15

I was going to make a cheap crack about Supermarket Sweep but I see I've been beaten to it. Touch of the winonas it would appear.

ilovesprouts · 10/01/2012 20:42

imho he should of been charged

5Foot5 · 10/01/2012 20:50

I don't know how you could get one past the self checkouts - not that I would every try! The nearest I have been to them making an error was in Tesco when I bought a wine box and only realised when I was leaving that it hadn't insisted on the purchase being authorised to make sure I look over 25.

Mind you I have always got the impression that security in Tesco is pretty lax. They almost never take any notice when the alarms go off when someone is leaving the shop. Twice I have inadvertently left the shop with something that had a security tag still on - I had paid for the goods but the checkout person had forgotten to take the tag off.

Once it was a cheap umbrella and I managed to get it off myself without damaging the thing. But once it was some clothes for DD so I had to take them back the next day to ask Customer Services to remove it. Both times there were security staff near the door who didn;t seem to bat an eyelid at the beeping noises.

Exquisite · 11/01/2012 02:45

There are many forms of Mental Illness, and as we do not know the cause of AWT illness it`s hard to say what form he has. But there is obviously something wrong the physiological effects of stress can effect the way someone functions... There is a big difference between those who steal for to order for profit, desperation to feed you children, and those in the gloom of despondency.

Why did Tesco not pull him the second or third time they so him surely they would have realized what was happening by then??

When he was finally stopped he had spent over £180 on goods, what he had taken came to less than a £5. Does that really sound like someone who was doing it for kicks????

Maybe he should have been prosecuted, but supermarkets often settle for a caution be given along with a ban from their stores.

A statement would have been prepared by his lawyer and maybe in put along with his agent.
This is no way along the lines of Winnona Ryder, Peaches Geldof etc etc etc

Lets not forget to those who are ready to pass judgement, Lady Isobel Barnett was a national TV celebrity from Leicestershire who was convicted of shoplifting. Days later, she committed suicide. I hope history doesn't repeat itself. Antony Worrall Thompson needs help.....

Also shame on the person who leaked the story, I hope the money you received was worth it....

WorriedBetty · 11/01/2012 03:08
  1. I have done this by accident when I had a lot on my mind.
  2. I have also exaggerated the number of my own bags I have to fiddle the green points Shock
Spermysextowel · 11/01/2012 03:50

Originally I thought he'd been using the hand-held scan as you shop thing, which usually ends up in a stand up fight between me & darling sons. Doesn't seem such a simple mistake & I think that if you've made your livelihood by being a public figure, you have to accept that any misdemeanour will be subject to scrutiny.

HipHopOpotomus · 11/01/2012 10:36

So he's admitted it - well has he really??? He's admitted the incidents where he was caught on camera - has he fessed up to all the stealing that went on before he was caught? No? So he's not really admitted it has he - I mean this must have been going on for some time.

crystalglasses · 11/01/2012 11:07

Let's leave the poor man alone. He must have mental health problems

lollilou · 11/01/2012 16:02

I think if he had £180 of goods but stole a fivers worth then perhaps he was doing it for kicks, he had plenty of money on him,he'd done it before, how many times who knows. Sounds more like he was doing it for the thrill to me.

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