Scots pub hailed for shaming thief by framing CCTV catching them in the act

An image of framed CCTV stills arranged in a grid, with the final square reading: "The whale is always watching".
-Credit:Dreadnought Leith


A Scots pub has been hailed for the "best response ever" to a thief stealing a piece of art from their wall. The Dreadnought in Leith, Edinburgh, replaced the missing artwork with a frame containing a sequence of stills from the CCTV footage showing the theft, shaming the person responsible after they allegedly ignored "polite requests" to return it.

Locals shared their impressed reactions, with the pub already known for quick-fire responses to incidents on the premises, reports Edinburgh Live. Writing in a post on Facebook, Dreadnought Leith said: "To the person who stole our artwork last week. Since you ignored our polite request to return it, we've replaced the stolen artwork with the CCTV sequence of you stealing the artwork. Petty? Yes. A***d? No."

An image of a pub with a sign reading: "Gayz Onley"
The Dreadnought previously changed its name to mock vandals who painted ignorant graffiti on their wall. -Credit:Google Maps

One local commented: "Best response ever", with a second adding: "Wow, that is good. Very good."

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A third quipped: "Didn't think I could love you guys any more."

The Leith boozer responded to an ignorant dig daubed on their wall in 2021. After 'Gayz Onley' was spray painted on the wall, staff poked fun at the vandals for their misspelled jibe and officially changed the pub's name to 'Gayz Onley'.

The year before, they called out what they saw as crimes against fashion. Posting on social media at the time, they said: "We were accused of snobbishness last time but, frankly, they just make the place look scruffy.

"We do our best to keep the place looking reasonably smart. If the first you see when you walk in is a group of lads wearing matching grey marl jobby catchers, we may as well have installed a beaten up bus shelter in the corner and invited folk to take a slash against it.

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"Just to prove our sartorial prejudices cross all boundaries, we’re also taking a stand against this horrendous current trend of half mast jeans, bare ankles and shoes."

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