A private investigator who once touted himself as Australia’s best thief catcher has fronted court accused of pretending to be a police officer and taking money from a teenager and the boy’s mother.

Shane Windred once appeared on A Current Affair as a self-proclaimed expert on how to catch a thief.

“Expect the unexpected, from the well dressed to the poorly dressed to the old to the young, anyone can rip you off,” Windred said at the time.

Today the 59-year-old did not speak in front of the camera as he fronted court on allegations he stole hundreds of dollars from a 16-year-old and his mother.

Windred was working as a security guard when police allege he stopped the boy inside IGA at Tramsheds in Sydney’s inner west on July 11, accusing the teenager of shoplifting before producing a silver badge and claiming to be a police officer.

It is then alleged he took the teenager and his mother into an office in the supermarket and demanded a $500 gift card.

Windred did not enter a plea in court, his lawyer instead asking for an adjournment.

The 59-year-old’s case will be heard again in September.