Shocking footage shows moment thief swipes Christmas gift from porch

Shocking camera footage has captured the moment a thief stole a Christmas present that had been left outdoors by the delivery driver.

The gift was meant for Greg Alcorn, a director in the security and surveillance industry, but was instead swiped by someone who picked up the parcel, tore it open in the front garden and made off with the contents less than an hour after it was dropped off.

He has hit out at Amazon for allowing it to be left at the front door of his home in Hammersmith and Fulham – and the delivery giant has offered amends.

“A delivery driver dropped a parcel on our front doorstep, did not knock, wait or make any attempt to contact the occupants or neighbours,” Mr Alcorn told Yahoo News UK.

“We were not home at the time and we were then notified by a family friend who ordered the Christmas present for the family that it had been delivered and signed for by ‘porch’.

“I quickly looked on the camera and found a parcel being dropped on our doorstep.

“I was concerned as there was a football game on nearby and that generally means loads of foot traffic goes past our place.

“So I reviewed the footage quickly and found someone had subsequently seen the parcel laying on the front step and continued to help themselves, opened it in our front garden and left the package before leaving with the goods.”

The package, which arrived on Saturday, contained a crepe griddle, bought by a family friend who knows Mr Alcorn’s family enjoys making the French treats.

It was a surprise and the first Mr Alcorn knew of the gift was when he saw the thief making off with it on his house’s camera footage.

Amazon has offered to refund and provided a gift card, Mr Alcorn said, which has impressed him but he was frustrated that it seemed to take a certain amount of pushing from him to achieve the response.

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An Amazon spokesperson said: “We have very high standards for our delivery service providers and how they serve customers.

“We’ve notified the right teams internally and will work with the customer directly to ensure the matter is resolved to their satisfaction.”

Mr Alcorn has contacted the Metropolitan Police about the theft.