Balaclava-clad children as young as five steal from a corner shop while their parents wait outside

Children as young as five have been filmed masked with balaclavas stealing from a corner shop while parents wait outside.

Shopkeeper Erdogan Yigitoglu, 52, has spent years sharing CCTV footage of shoplifters online to reduce crime – including young kids stealing while concealing their identities.

His footage shows offenders helping themselves to piles of chocolate bars, disposable BBQs worth £120, and an array of other items.

However, the most shocking discovery was children as young as five being 'masked up' in balaclavas and taking items, including fruit,t before returning to adults waiting outside.

On one occasion, he said he even saw a mother pat their child on the head as if they were congratulating them on a successful haul.

Mr Yigitoglu, who has run his shop in Bournemouth, Dorset, for 19 years, says he has lost thousands of pounds every year from burglary alone, and it has also taken a toll on his mental health.

Over the last six years, however, the father of three has found that publicly shaming thieves on social media and banning them from his shop is the best way to reduce crime.

'The incident with the young children in balaclavas was particularly shocking for me,' Mr Yigitoglu said.

'What upset me most was seeing very young children copying this kind of behaviour from adults.

'What was even more disturbing was seeing the children take things from the shop and then go back to their mother, while she appeared to treat the situation as if it were normal, even smiling and patting the child on the head.

'As a father myself, I found that extremely upsetting. I would never want children to grow up thinking that stealing is acceptable or something to be proud of.

'I sincerely hope that in the future we see fewer situations like this.

'My biggest wish is that children are taught the difference between right and wrong and are given the guidance they need to grow up as responsible members of the community.'

Mr Yigitoglu added that around half of the people who he says have been caught shoplifting red-handed in his videos have returned to apologise and pay for the items.

He said, 'From my experience, sharing the CCTV has made a real difference.

'We have noticed that since we started sharing genuine CCTV footage on social media, the number of incidents has gone down.'

Mr. Yigitoglu said he recently had an incident in the evening where a group of youngsters came into the shop with their faces covered.

He explained: 'Because we could not see their faces, we did not allow them into the shop.

'They then took a large box of chocolates and ran away. These are the kinds of incidents we are dealing with.

'It is extremely frustrating because we are working hard every day, trying to run an honest business and provide a service to the community.

'All we want is to be able to work without fear and without constantly worrying about whether something is going to be stolen.'


The impact of such frequent theft has not only taken a toll on M.