It pays to be a thief in Canada!

TORONTO - It pays to be a thief in Canada - unless you are caught red-handed.

A poor Chinese-origin shopkeeper David Chen is on trial here for chasing a shoplifter in May 2009 and tying him till the cops came.

His fault: he did not catch Bennett red-handed, but about an hour after he had shoplifted. The law states you can only make a citizen’s arrest when you catch someone in the act, according to the Canadian Press.

Even as the thief has already pleaded guilty to stealing, he says he was the “victim” of the shopkeeper’s actions.

In a video played in court Wednesday, the thief is shown running off after Chen calmly approached him, touched his shoulder and pointed towards his store.

A man with criminal past, Bennett told the court that when he panicked and ran off, three men chased him.

After subduing him, he said, they “started duct taping and then started twining my legs up and my hand.

“They hit me a few times on the way in while they were trying to subdue me.”

He said he “felt rescued” when police arrived a few minutes later.

The shopkeeper said Thursday that he is a regular victim of shoplifters, but police always stopped him from pressing charges against the shoplifters. He said every time he called police, they took up to five hours to respond. Then the cops would let the shoplifters off with a mild warning.

There have numerous cases of multiple thefts at some Indian shops, with police letting off the thieves every time.