Anthony Worrall Thompson cautioned over cheese and wine theft

Oh dear, poor chap. Most embarrassing that he was caught shoplifting from Tesco in Henley on Thames. In this part of the world, it is considered déclassé to admit one shops in Tesco, never mind being caught helping one’s self.

I cannot think why he didn’t choose Waitrose for his cheese and wine.

42 thoughts on “Anthony Worrall Thompson cautioned over cheese and wine theft”

  3. I think he is burdened by his name which connotes wealth and status. He was only trying to chav down a notch, methinks.

  6. I suppose an alternative explanation is that it was cry for help. And where better than Tesco to appear helpless?

  8. Actually, Janus. You do have a point. He was using the dreaded self-service checkout thingies so it could have been a genuine mistake.

    But he did it four or five times, so perhaps not!

  10. For those, like me, who have never heard of AWT, he’s apparently a Pommie “Celebrity Chef”. 🙄

  11. I had to look up who Anthony Worrall Thompson (full name Henry Anthony Cardew Thompson) was. What a burden of a name to be lumbered with – no wonder he has problems!

    I see that he is now a resident of High Wycombe. I wonder why he didn’t take his cheese and wine from the High Wycombe Tesco? Dare I admit that I shopped there many, many years ago!

  12. I won’t tell anyone about it, Boadicea, provided you don’t mention that I do occasionally pop into Tesco in Henley, and I once went into the one in Reading. It’s not the sort of thing I generally mention though in company . 😦

  13. What you have to understand, Araminta, is that our two supermarket chains (with 85% of the market) are like the old, original Tesco UK.

    When we lived in Sydney, the local Coles Supermarket had a ‘Gourmet’ counter. Joy of joys! Hallelujah! We could buy Tesco Marmalade, Tesco Suet, and other such ‘Tesco’ delicacies…

    🙂

  14. Bearsy :

    For those, like me, who have never heard of AWT, he’s apparently a Pommie “Celebrity Chef”. :roll:

    And, Bearsy, Tesco and Waitrose are British supermarket chains. Just in case you were not aware of that fact. 😉

  15. Actually, I understand your frustration, Boadicea. I think UK supermarkets are pretty good, as a rule.

    I’m only joshing about Tesco. I tend to buy groceries there, and it has a large free car-park on the edge of town, but I prefer Waitrose for some items; parking can be a nightmare as it’s in the middle of the town.

  16. I have encountered supermarkets, Araminta, in many countries, but unless one is a compulsive goggle-box-watcher, one does not readily latch on to media tarts in the lands one visits. 😆

  17. I quite agree, Bearsy, I don’t watch much television, but AWT was a local, and appears in the national press from time to time, so I have heard of him, but I’m not surprised you and Boadicea hadn’t.

    I’ve actually met him a few times, but I’m not a great fan.

  18. Tesco actually has two big stores in Bratislava, one in the centre, one on the outskirts, and we do use them, though I prefer the Austrian supermarket chain Billa. That’s mainly because you’re more likely to find the instructions on packets in German as well as other languages. Tesco has gone completely native and the instructions are in Czech, Slovak, Polish and Magyar. This makes life difficult.

  20. Oh dear, I’ve just noticed that my reply #16 to Araminta should have been to Sipu’s #14. Apologies to both. It must be time for bed for Aussie seniors. 😦

  21. Well yes, Bearsy. But I’m not and all the other tourists must suffer too. Tesco is British, for goodness sake!

  22. There is a Tesco in Prague, Sheona.

    I haven’t visited; I only know this because an old friend, now deceased, made a fortune selling them the plot of land.

  23. We have Aldi and Lidl locally, oh jawohl, and a couple of other supermarkets aimed specifically at non-integrating Brits and assorted foreigners. All foreign packaged produce in Portugal has a sticky label over the ingredients part of the package giving all the information in Portuguese, which, if the original was not in English, is a bit of a bonus.

    OZ

  24. Oh, and there’s a Tesco in Gibraltar apparently, although you can order all their stuff online anyway.

    OZ

  25. Never saw a Tesco in Gibraltar, OZ, though it could have arrived in the last year or so. There’s a Morrison’s and a little Spanish supermarket where the Spaniards go to stock up on cheap cigarettes before they go back home after a day’s work.

  26. I stand to be corrected, Sheona. It was just that the NSW turfed up for the Christmas thrash with mince pies, Christmas pud and fancy crackers in Tesco bags, all of which I assumed came via one of her colleagues who does the Gib run occasionally. Perhaps they came via t’interweb instead.

    OZ

  28. So where did the Tesco bags come from? The NSW returns from work tomorrow night and I may have to torture a confession from her by way of withholding the customary chilled Sapphire and Schweppes with a slice of fresh lime from the tree. I can be such a beast. 🙂

    OZ

  30. What I want to know is what he meant in his press release that he will “now get the help he clearly needs”. And why does anyone give a damn about a fat ginger has been? More celebrity obsession. Hurrumph.

    Being in financial difficulty doesn’t mean go stealing wine and cheese FFS! And surely he’s not trying to say he’s gone mental?

    There’s always a job in Tesco for those who are hard up…..

    Or, he’ll turn up as a surprise guest in Celebrity Big Brother…….muppet.

  31. Yes, I gather he has apologised, so that’s OK then, and he’s probably going for counselling!

    Honestly, Cuprum, I can’t understand why he wasn’t charged with shoplifting. They had the evidence; why did they let him off with a caution? He did it five times for goodness sake!

  32. Araminta – I may even have to enlist the services of SWMNBN, who you and Auntie Bilby may recall is still with me,

    Shudder!

    OZ

  34. Even I’ve heard of him 😳

    What was the value of the stuff he stole. Was it worth more than what those rioters got prison time for last year?

    Oh, and, I would assume that AWT’s actions were premeditated unlike some of the London rioters / looters!

  35. I don’t understand people who shoplift cheese and such. If I were ever to try it, I’d want to do it in Cartier’s and Tiffany’s.

  36. I don’t know the total value of his haul, Soutie, but yes the last four occasions were not exactly spur of the moment, although the first one may have been!

  38. Ara – he would have been given a caution under the following parameters:

    Full admission
    Victim agreed
    No previous convictions/cautions
    In public interest.
    Small enough financial value (£100 is a general rule)
    Goods recovered

    Alas, he was clearly treated equally as any other citizen. How it got in the press is another matter. I therefore lose any sympathy.

  40. What an embarrassment!
    Him having to live in High Wycombe, ouch!
    You would think he would leave the area completely.
    I really don’t know why these celebrity chefs don’t just acquire one restaurant, work themselves and make a perfectly good if not excellent living,
    Needs to take a leaf out of Marco Pierre White’s book.

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