Emsworth sneak thief who paid 7p for £30 of sweets is caught on camera - and then slinks back to settle the bill

A greedy woman was caught on camera helping herself to £30 worth of sweets from an honesty shed - before leaving a measly 7p.

The sticky-fingered thief hummed a tune as she calmly filled her bag with 10p treats from Emsworth Sweets in Hampshire while two children played beside her.

But what she didn't realise was that owner Leah O'Brien was getting alerts straight to her phone as the theft unfolded on her Ring camera.

Leah later posted images of the woman on social media and, within just an hour, had been given a name. The woman was contacted and agreed to repay the full £30.50 owed.

Leah said: “I sell my sweet treats from home and I also have an honesty shed on my property. Someone came in the evening and was putting a lot of stuff in her bag and I thought to myself ‘that's a lot of sweets’.

“She put just two coins into the box which amounted to 7p. I got an alert on my phone telling me what was going on.

“I did some research and within the hour I had someone here to pay for the sweets that had been taken. It's such a good security system for what I do, because otherwise my losses would be ridiculous. I wouldn't even be going because I couldn't do it.”

Leah started her business during lockdown as a sweet delivery service to cheer people up.

It has since grown into a thriving operation with online orders and customers across the UK.