It is a heist that could almost have come straight from a British comedy: nearly 900 kegs of Guinness disappeared after two trailers were stolen from a depot in Runcorn, Cheshire, England. The cargo, estimated at £115,000, amounts to more than 70,000 pints of the famous Irish stout.
The case took on a new dimension on 8 September 2026, when Cheshire Police released CCTV images of two men they wish to identify. Although both trailers have since been recovered, the Guinness remains unaccounted for.
Nearly 900 kegs of Guinness disappear within hours
Two lorries came to collect the trailers
The events date back to 31 August 2026. According to Cheshire Constabulary, a first lorry arrived at around 19:45 at an industrial estate on Aston Lane in Runcorn. It was hitched to a trailer containing kegs of Guinness before leaving around ten minutes later in the direction of the Mersey Gateway.
Just over an hour later, at around 21:12, a second lorry arrived at the same site. It left at around 21:30 with another trailer loaded with Guinness, this time heading towards Rainhill and Watkinson Way.
In total, police now put the number at around 880 kegs. Their value is estimated at about £115,000, or around €133,000 at the time of the appeal for witnesses. Served in pubs, that quantity amounts to more than 70,000 pints of Guinness.
The trailers have been recovered, but not the Guinness
Police are still searching for the cargo
The investigation led to both trailers being recovered around 50 kilometres from the site of the theft, in the area of Skelmersdale, Lancashire.
The first is thought to have been abandoned in the Hall Lane area in the early hours of 1st September. The second was left in the Gillibrands Road area on 2 September. By then, however, they had been stripped of their valuable cargo: the hundreds of kegs of Guinness have still not been located.
As of 8 September, no arrests had been announced. Investigators are seeking in particular to establish where such a substantial quantity of stout may have been stored, and whether some of the kegs are intended for sale on the black market.
Police release images of two men
A new appeal for witnesses launched on 8 September
A week after the incident, Cheshire Constabulary published CCTV images showing the two lorries involved in the operation, as well as two men whom investigators wish to identify.
Police believe they may hold vital information about the theft. They are also urging businesses and individuals to be vigilant should they suddenly be offered large quantities of kegs of Guinness for sale.
Investigators are also trying to trace a learner driver and their instructor, who were travelling in a silver or white Renault Captur when one of the trailers is believed to have been abandoned. They may have witnessed part of the incident without realising its significance at the time.
A spectacular heist involving Ireland’s most famous stout
More than 70,000 pints vanish without a trace
The stolen Guinness had not, of course, disappeared from a Dublin pub: the heist took place in England. But the scale of the theft quickly brought the case attention in Irish media as well.
RTÉ and The Irish Times, among others, reported on the unusual disappearance. For good reason: Guinness remains one of Ireland’s most instantly recognisable brands worldwide, with an identity closely associated with Dublin and the historic St James’s Gate brewery.
Cheshire Police do not, in any case, appear willing to let the roughly 880 kegs simply evaporate. Having recovered the trailers and released the CCTV images, the investigation is now focused on identifying those involved and, above all, locating a cargo large enough to fill a considerable number of pubs.
With more than 70,000 pints involved, it would indeed be difficult to make all that Guinness disappear discreetly.
