Bag snatch thief caught on CCTV in pub

A brazen thief was captured on CCTV snatching a bag from a busy pub, walking past bar staff and the bag’s owner before making his getaway – all in under a minute.

CCTV of the man calmly picking up Martina Cannon’s bag from an empty pub booth and walking out the door has been watched more than 100,000 times – but the man has not yet been identified.

Ms Cannon had her Harris Tweed bag, containing her mobile phone, stolen in the Drouthy Neebors pub on West Preston Street on Friday.

The musician had been performing in an open mic night at the pub. In CCTV footage posted on her Facebook page, the bag can clearly be seen being taken by a heavy-set man with dark hair, wearing a jacket with a dark collar.

In separate footage, the man can be seen walking into the pub and trying to enter a storage cupboard marked “Private”, before swooping on the bag and leaving the building within a minute.

Ms Cannon said she likely looked directly at the thief before he snatched her valuables. She said: “I had done my set, and was up at the bar talking to someone and ordering a drink. I was away from my bag for five minutes. I looked for it, and it wasn’t there. I tried to ring the phone, and it was off, so I knew it was gone, because the phone was fully charged.

“We knew it has to be someone who had come in and out, because just about everyone on that side of the bar was a friend.

“He’s probably done it before, plenty of times. I’ve watched the footage back so many times, and I’m just really, really angry about it. He just walked right past me – I probably even looked at him for a second or two, and thought nothing of it, just like everyone else.”

The bar handed over footage from its cameras to the victim on Saturday, who posted it online, getting a massive response from viewers who shared it across social media.

Ms Cannon, who said she would be reporting the theft to the police, posted: “Here is clear footage of the dirty rotten rat stealing my bag from Drouthy Neebors on Friday night, can everyone please share this video to help me catch him, someone must know him.

“Your help is much appreciated. This man is the scum of the earth, lowest of low and must be stopped, looks like he knows what he’s doing.”

Drouthy Neebors barman Charlie Hegarty – who can be seen in the video standing behind the bar as the thief walks past with the bag – said staff would be on their guard.

He said: “The man came in, went round behind the bar, and tried to get into the storage cupboard, I assume because he thought staff items would be in there. If there had been, he would have been away with everyone’s phone.

“About a minute after he walked in, he lifted the bag and he was gone. He didn’t bat an eyelid.

“The worst thing about it is this guy was so casual, he sauntered straight past Martina and stole it in front of everybody.

“I was completely oblivious, and everyone else was the same. If I was to see the fellow, I would recognise him.”

A spokeswoman for Police Scotland said the force could not comment until the theft had been reported.