Man filmed stealing flowers from the site where Manchester teenager Jack Essex was killed a week earlier

Jack Essex was killed in January after he was hit by a lorry in Manchester city centre

The man was captured on CCTV stealing flowers from the site (Greater Manchester Police)

A man in Manchester has been caught on CCTV stealing flowers from a memorial site set up in memory of a teenager who died after a road accident earlier this year.

The suspect was filmed by surveillance cameras taking bouquets from the site of a memorial set up on Manchester’s Canal Street for Jack Essex, 18, who was killed just a week earlier in an incident involving a lorry.

Inspector Phil Spurgeon of the Manchester Police said: “This was a deplorable act, stealing flowers laid in tribute to a young man who had been tragically killed only a few days earlier.

“We are determined to catch the person responsible.

“We are hoping that someone will recognise him from this new CCTV footage or that he will do the honourable thing and contact us himself.”

Police say the man is of medium build, with short brown hair and was wearing a black leather jacket, jeans and black shoes when the flowers were taken.

Jack Essex was killed in January when a lorry hit him as he walked in Manchester’s city centre.

He was treated for “serious head injuries” by paramedics at the scene but later died in hospital.

Following his death, thousands of tributes were sent to Essex’s family with thousands of flowers and messages being left at the memorial site on Canal Street.