Police hunt man seen on CCTV stealing hand sanitiser from outside hospital ward

31 March 2020, 14:44

Northampton Hospital release CCTV of man stealing hand sanitiser from ward wall

Police want to trace a man who was filmed on CCTV stealing hand sanitiser from inside a hospital.

The man was seen on CCTV taking a container from a hand sanitiser dispenser at Northampton General Hospital's Quinton Ward.

He was seen in the video initially walking past the hand sanitiser mounted on the wall.

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But then he goes back on himself, stands in front of the sanitiser with his back to the camera for a few moments and then when he walks away, the sanitiser is gone.

The hospital released the footage on Twitter, saying: "Please don't steal from us."

Northamptonshire Police said the theft was on Monday 9 March at around 7:45pm.

They said "a man pulled the sanitiser unit off the wall and made off" and the wall was also damaged as a result.

Adding: "Officers investigating the incident believe the man in the image may have information that could help their enquiries and are encouraging him or anyone who recognises him to call Northamptonshire Police on 101."

The theft on March 9 came after the hospital issued a statement on March 6 that three hand sanitiser pumps had been stolen off the walls.

Hand sanitiser is in high demand after being snapped up in a wave of panic buying amid the coronavirus outbreak.

Many supermarket and pharmacy shelves had none available for a number of days and some unscrupulous sellers increased the price.