A ‘hypnotist thief’ rifled through a shopkeeper’s pockets and stole a day’s takings after putting him in a ‘trance’.

The owner of independent wine merchants Hops and Pops in Highgate, north London, 56-year-old Aftab Haider, was robbed of hundreds of pounds by an apparent hypnotists, with the crime caught on CCTV video.

In the footage recorded at around 21.45 on 11 September, an eastern European man wearing a black bomber jacket can be seen brushing past the shopkeeper and gently tapping him on the arm. The suspect then made a stabbing gesture with his right hand towards Haider’s eyes, apparently placing him in some form of trance-like state.

As the Haider stood there motionless and mesmerised, the suspect spoke quietly as he riffled through the shopkeeper’s pockets and pulled out his wallet and then a bundle of hundreds of pounds – the day’s takings.

Once he had the cash in his hands, the thief tapped Haider on the shoulder to release him form the ‘spell’ and quickly left the shop before the shopkeeper could realise what had just happened.

When Haider discovered that he had been robbed he ran outside after the thief, but he had disappeared out of sight.

The incident is the first time that a thief has been recorded using hypnotism in the UK, but other cases have been reported in northern Italy in 2008.

The suspect is described as in his early thirties, of Eastern European appearance, around 5ft 8in tall, slim with short black hair, and was seen wearing a grey polo shirt, dark jeans, and a black bomber jacket.