A Metropolitan Police detective has been sacked after it emerged he stole a £99 pair of shoes from Marks & Spencer.
DC Michael Lai pretended to be an office worker when he was accosted by security and then police at the doors of M&S at Bluewater shopping centre.
He had been caught on camera slipping the shoes into an empty shopping bag as he walked around the store, before heading out of the exit.
The officer, who joined the Met in 2002, was given a ‘Community Resolution Record’ by Kent Police, which meant he admitted the crime but was spared a full criminal prosecution.
He failed to tell his bosses in the Met about the incident, which happened in April 2019 and it remained undiscovered until 2023.
Facing a misconduct hearing, DC Lai denied shoplifting, claimed he had a “hazy” memory of the incident, and suggested the police officer may have mistakenly recorded his job as an office worker because of the way he was dressed.
He denied knowing that he had admitted a crime on the day, in an explanation for not telling his Met bosses.
But a misconduct panel rejected all of his claims, dubbing him a “thoroughly unreliable witness who was totally lacking in credibility”, with a story that was “littered with discrepancies and was considered to be implausible”.
The panel was told DC Lai, a Met detective since 2010, had gone to the shopping centre in Kent on April 19, 2019 with his wife and mother-in-law.
He went off on his own to buy work shoes, and after entering Marks & Spencer he carried out a refund on two ties and a jumper.
“Carrying an M&S shopping bag and an empty white M&S carrier bag, DC Lai walked directly to the men’s shoe section”, the misconduct panel’s report set out.
“He selected a pair of shoes and immediately placed them into the carrier bag. He subsequently walked to the exit and left the store making no attempt to pay.
“He was immediately stopped and invited back into the store. He maintained his innocence and stated that he did not leave the store and was intending to pay.”
DC Lai, when questioned by police, was told of CCTV evidence against him, and he signed the Community Resolution Record which read: “Today at Marks & Spencer I selected pair of shoes to be value of £99. I placed these into a carrier bag that I was carrying and left the store having made no attempt to pay.
“I do have the means to pay. I understand what theft is and that it is wrong. I apologise to the store for my actions. The Community Resolution has been explained to me and I accept this form. I fully admit theft but I did leave the store to look for my family.”
When questioned in the misconduct proceedings, DC Lai said he “had no memory of signing the Community Resolution and wouldn’t have done so if he knew that he was admitting a crime.”
A Kent Police officer confirmed that he would not have accepted a Community Resolution if DC Lai had told him his true profession.
The panel found the officer had said he “believed that he was told that if he signed a document that he could go and so he did sign the document”.
But they concluded: “DC Lai’s subsequent attitude before the panel that he could not remember a single thing about that day was considered to be an utter fabrication, which was totally inconsistent with his previous account and was rejected out of hand by the panel.”
DC Lai was found guilty of gross misconduct, and the panel ordered that he should be dismissed without notice.
