A man in Switzerland is embroiled in a battle with the supermarket Migros, after the company accused him of making off with four pastries without paying for them. The accused continues to plead his innocence, while Migros pushes forward with a 430 franc fine for the alleged offence.

Man accused of trying to steal pastry fined 430 francs

According to Swiss magazine Beobachter, the accused was purchasing lunch and was stopped by security guards on his way out of the Migros supermarket at the Mall of Switzerland shopping centre in Lucerne. The guards checked the receipt and found that it did not detail a pastry allegedly purchased by the man. 

“I selected the symbol on the screen. I do not understand why the pastry has not been registered”, the buyer told Beobachter. After being let go by the security guards, it was assumed the incident was a mistake and the case was closed - but as the man found out, it wasn’t just yet!

Video footage deleted by Swiss supermarket

Shortly after this, the accused received a phone call from Migros which told him that there were surveillance videos showing that he had not paid for a further three pastries, and there was now a total of four outstanding Vienne en cage that had not been paid for. Migros then asked the man to pay a fine of 430 Swiss francs, which according to Beobachter, the firm said was agreed upon by both sides, but the accused pastry-buyer denies this. 

According to Blick, the man refused to pay the fine, leading Migros to threaten criminal action if the money was not paid soon. While trying to request evidence of the other alleged pastry thefts, it was revealed that Migros had deleted the footage in question. Naturally, this leads the suspect to believe there was never any proof to begin with, but in response, Migros simply stated that it is company policy to delete CCTV footage after 30 days. 

Eventually, the fine was paid, but some think the man was treated unfairly given he pleaded it was a mistake. The Beobachter magazine has encouraged the man to lodge an appeal against the fine.