Dad accused of shoplifting from IKEA after 'stupid machine' wrongly identifies him

Dad accused of shoplifting from IKEA after 'stupid machine' wrongly identifies himPolice arrested the 59-year-old Colin McMahon on Harlesden High Street in London after he was wrongly identified as a shoplifter by facial recognition technologyNewsJamie Saunderson and Paige Ingram01:46, 23 Apr 2026View 4 ImagesColin Mcmahon was wrongly accused(Image: Colin Mcmahon / SWNS)A dad was accused of stealing items from IKEA after being wrongly identified by facial recognition technology.‌Colin McMahon was cleared of shoplifting £300 worth of items from IKEA in Greenwich, London. Police arrested the 59-year-old on Harlesden High Street in the capital on October 16, 2025 after a Retrospective Facial Recognition (RFR) search linked him to the offence on February 4.‌The dad-of-two spent 24 hours in custody at Wembley Police Station before being charged with theft. But on February 26, 2026, City of London Magistrates' Court found he was not the man flagged on CCTV exiting the shop with stolen items.‌View 4 Images(Image: Colin Mcmahon / SWNS)READ MORE: Cruise ship passengers left 'shaking' after five bodies pulled from seaREAD MORE: Dad who died after Stockbridge Village chippy attack named as tributes pour in for 'lovely fella'Colin, a former roofer, from Cricklewood, London, said: "I came out of a meeting where I'm involved with Crisis (homelessness charity), starting a new campaign. I walked down the street with a friend of mine and saw a big facial recognition van and loads of police."The next minute, three policemen surrounded me, accusing me of a theft back in February on the other side of London."‌The Metropolitan Police says it has since changed its policies around RFR. The technology compares mug shots stored on police files with images from crime scenes - but does not determine guilt.Very high accuracy rates are reported where there are high-quality pictures - but suspects are much less likely to be correctly identif...