Man runs off with iPhone after asking to look at it in Southall shop

A man ran out of a shop in Southall with an iPhone after asking staff if he could look at it, according to CCTV footage from the shop.

The theft happened on Monday 28 September. The owner shared the footage with UB1UB2, and it shows a young man at the counter being handed a phone to look at.

In the footage, he walks into the aisle with the handset and spends some time holding it. He looks around him and behaves like any other customer before running off with the phone. The shop owner said he got away with it.

What the footage shows

The CCTV shows a busy shop with goods stacked on shelves and hanging from the ceiling. A member of staff is behind the counter and other customers are standing close by when the man is handed the phone.

The Metropolitan Police has not said whether the theft has been reported or whether anyone has been arrested. Police have been approached for comment.

Shopkeepers say this kind of theft is a worry for small independent retailers. Staff often hand expensive items to customers to look at before they buy, and a single handset can cost hundreds of pounds.

Phone theft across London

The theft came near the end of what the Metropolitan Police calls its largest-ever crackdown on phone theft. The operation ran from 1 to 30 September, and the force said more than 700 people were arrested and hundreds of suspected stolen phones were seized.

During the same operation, officers visited 220 second-hand phone shops across London to gather intelligence and build relationships with legitimate businesses. Police figures show phone theft and robbery in the capital fell from 81,439 offences in 2024 to 71,867 in 2025. They fell again between January and August this year.

Southall has also been part of the Met's wider work on retail crime. On Monday 12 October, officers carried out a licensing check at a store in the town and recovered suspected stolen goods. A woman was arrested on suspicion of handling stolen goods. This was part of a London-wide operation against shops suspected of buying stolen products from shoplifters and selling them on.

How to report it

Anyone with information about the theft can contact the police on 101 or report it online through the Metropolitan Police website. In an emergency, always call 999.

If you want to stay anonymous, you can call the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

Police advise shopkeepers who have been victims of theft to report every incident, keep CCTV footage, and note the make, model and identifying details of any stolen device. This helps officers trace stolen goods and spot patterns of offending.