Let’s be honest—what exactly has he done wrong here? - Turned the camera off. Is there a valid reason you would turn a camera off? Im sure there are, but thats what needs to be investigated.
From my experience handling forensic cases involving dodgy CCTV and DVR systems, I can tell you this: unless you're spending serious money—hundreds of pounds per camera—those motion detection zones aren’t reliable. Especially on old systems. - irrelevant.
If he's a manager coming in on his day off to do some work, that’s not a red flag—that’s commitment. He actually sounds like a solid manager. - It can be. Coming in to do work is fine, we have all done it. Coming in when nobody is there and turning the camera off is a red flag a big one.
Now, the bigger concern here isn’t what he did—it’s that you even need to review CCTV to begin with. If nothing was stolen or damaged, is this really an issue? - It might be that a recording notification popped through when you would expect the premises to be empty?
Missing CCTV footage happens all the time in investigations. Most systems are running way beyond their expected lifespan. It’s common to find gaps, failed motion triggers, or corrupted recordings. - Thats not the same as actively going out of your way to turn it off.
Honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised at all. Cheap cameras, worn-out DVRs—it’s a recipe for missing footage. - As above.
If it were me? I’d simply ask him what he was doing there. Have a conversation. But I wouldn’t lose sleep over footage that likely never recorded in the first place. I would do this too.
