Dot races after ‘thieving lowlife’

From the archive, first published Friday 13th Apr 2007.

A 61-YEAR-old charity shop worker chased a thief into the street after he grabbed a fistful of notes from the till.

Dot Beers leapt into action after hearing her colleague cry "stop that man!" while she was on her lunch break at the Havens Hospices shop, in Hadleigh, on Wednesday afternoon.

A fellow volunteer at the shop had tried to slam the man's thieving hand in the till, but he made off with £70 shortly after 1.30pm.

The man had spent a considerable time browsing in the store, then pretended to buy a book for £2.

But while the till was open, he leaned over and snatched the cash.

Mrs Beers, the shop's manager, said: "The man was here for some time. He initially asked for some change, which we can't give, then got a book and came to the counter.

"He asked for some 20p pieces in his change and, while the volunteer was cashing them, he reached over the counter and took the notes."

Mrs Beers chased the man up London Road towards Hadleigh library, but lost sight of him as he fled down an alleyway near the Crown pub.

There were two volunteers and two shoppers in the store at the time, but no one was hurt.

Mrs Beers said: "People are absolutely disgusted by this. We just think the man is a lowlife. If I'd caught him, all I wanted to do was see the face of someone who would do something like this.

"The money he's stolen from us could have paid for almost a day's nursing care. We all work so hard to get that type of money."

The charity relies heavily on donations and income generated from its charity shops to help run Fair Havens Hospice, Westcliff, and Little Havens Children's Hospice, Thundersley. It costs nearly £4million a year to keep the hospices going.

Police are now appealing for witnesses to the incident to come forward. They are also examining CCTV footage to try to identify the offender.

The man was white, aged in his thirties, about 5ft 10ins tall and of stocky build. He had short cropped hair, stubble, and was wearing a grey T-shirt and blue jeans.

Anyone with information should contact police on 01268 775533.

To lend your support to the charity, call 01702 220350.