Chef Antony Worrall Thompson is the latest person to nick stuff from shops for no apparent reason.
Five times in 16 days is a good effort, but fair play to AWT, no hook wriggling, just a fulsome apology:
www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2084067/Antony-Worrall-Thompson-sorry-shoplifting-cheese-wine-Tesco.html
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I hate the term "shoplifting". Makes it sound like a minor issue somehow. It's not, it's theft and should be treated as such.
Does though remind me of the story of the Irish fella who came out of prison after 20 years. He went for a job interview and had to admit to being an ex-con. "what were you in for?" asked the interviewer. "Shoplifting" he says. "Twenty years for shoplifting, that seems a bit harsh?" "Yeah, well, thing is y'see, I lifted Marks and Spencers ten feet off the ground..."
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...It's not, it's theft...
Technically, you are correct, there is no statute against shoplifting, the act is charged simply as theft.
AWT has not been charged, but he has accepted a police caution - for theft.
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Dunno what the worst crime is theft or a chef stealing cheese from Tesco. Not much in the way of sympathy from me I'm afraid. Dealt with thieves major and minor over the years, these thieves cost you and me money make no mistake. At least he's repentant which is something.
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I recall a couple of cases - one involving a minor Arab royal - in which the shoplifter had credit cards and wads of cash on them when arrested.
Radio commentator Stuart Hall was convicted of nicking a jar of coffee.
Despite AWT's business difficulties, it's assumed he's not short of a few quid.
Which all begs the question: Why do they do it?
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Dunno iffy,
I've seen people steal to feed their family, steal to finance a drugs habit, steal for their own immediate needs, steal for the buzz - this where the so called professionals appear, and steal just because their really greedy so and sos.
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"Radio commentator Stuart Hall was convicted of nicking a jar of coffee"
I think you'll find that he was acquitted.
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...I think you'll find that he was acquitted...
Doesn't look like it.
This comment piece was published closer to the time, it wouldn't have been had he been acquitted.
"Television presenter Stuart Hall stole sausages and coffee from Safeway. He told the jury his life had collapsed when the BBC had ended his contract and when a collection of his antique clocks was stolen. Funny, I thought the usual cry for help was attempted suicide - now it’s shoplifting."
www.scotsman.com/news/chrissy_iley_on_winona_ryder_and_celebrity_shoplifting_1_629829
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"In 1990, shortly after being the victim of burglary and being told of the end of his daily BBC career he was charged with shoplifting from his local supermarket. He was acquitted, but not awarded costs. Having recovered from the ordeal, he was able to respond with spirit and humour to taunts made in his direction. He has made it through all the tribulations due to his indomitable spirit and the love of his family"
The above is from a website - jsfnet.co.uk - which, of course, neither proves nor disproves his guilt. Just thought that I would quote it in case Mr Hall decides to get litigious (unlikely I would think).
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...oh, and AWT has been convicted of nothing, he was cautioned an entirely different thing.
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>>At least he's repentant which is something
most shoplifters were once they are caught.
It just goes to show though that the security guys were watching him, but I guess due to who he is, they had to make doubly sure. Bet you and I wouldn't have received the same chances!
At least this prevented him from rolling out the standard shoplifter line of "honest, its the first time I have ever done it"
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If I ever fell on hard times and turned to shoplifting, to minimise my chances of being stopped I would always wear a suit and be dressed smartly.
In my experience it takes a lot more guts to stop someone suited and booted than it does someone in a tracksuit and baseball cap!
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>> I'd wear chef whites...
I'd wear a cloth cap, horizontally striped sweater and a black mask, and carry a sack with the word 'swag' written on it. So store security would think I was just a house burglar and leave me alone.
Neurotic shoplifting by well-heeled people has an interesting side. May have to do with a perception from early childhood of the mother withholding the breast. Carelessly bottle-fed babies, or ones part-raised by insensitive nurses or nannies, may be inclined to shoplift in later life. But obviously most resist the temptation.
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Richard Madeley "Richard and Judy" was charged years ago but was found not guilty - there was champagne in the trolley.
Local nick got a rap over the knuckles (IIRC) for having a" Trolley Dash" night out.............quite funny at the time.
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Local nick got a rap over the knuckles (IIRC) for having a" Trolley Dash" night out.......
and for letting some wag chalk "The Madeley Suite" over his cell's door. Another "personality" that realy gets on my wick...
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>> and for letting some wag chalk "The Madeley Suite" over his cell's door. Another "personality"
>> that realy gets on my wick...
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>> Wife worked in a jewellers in Didsbury at the time, Madeley used to come in to buy stuff, they lived nearby, in Old Broadway.
They had been known as ' Dick and the dog ' but that soon changed to ' Pinch and Judy '
Aren't folks cruel ?
Ted
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Don't forget to wear a decent pair of shoes though Bobby if you're planning a big one. Bad shoes can be a real giveaway as to one's true character and standards...
:-)
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Unless of course you are nicking shoes.
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Classic one in shoe shops is legging it in the new pair while leaving the old ones in the shop. I shoved a guy's face into the corner of a building once for doing that in my sight in a friend's shop. Think he repented. Not sure.
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I used to have access to some supermarket security camera control rooms, they have impressive capabilities.
Last edited by: Old Navy on Mon 9 Jan 12 at 17:43
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They serve a double purpose, they are also used to track shoppers movement habits, and stores are laid out on how the experts interpret them to maximise sales.
For example, people slow down at the end of isles, so thats where they pile the high profit impulse buys, or stuff they need to shift - known as "s hit bins" in the trade.
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>> They serve a double purpose, they are also used to track shoppers movement habits, and
>> stores are laid out on how the experts interpret them to maximise sales.
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>> For example, people slow down at the end of isles, so thats where they pile
>> the high profit impulse buys, or stuff they need to shift - known as "s
>> hit bins" in the trade.
>>
All the marketing was worked out years ago, as you have stated. These days security is the priority.
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Supermarkets etc have specialist camera systems which do much more than count footfall - they can identify sex of shopper, make a good guess whether people entering the store are in a group, measure the hot and cold spots in a store etc etc. Management are supposed to be able to use the data dynamically as they can fairly accurately predict how many tills they need open and adjust the number on the fly.
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When the nearby Tesco Extra opened it had big screens near tills predicting tills needed at certain time... they soon came down. They do still call for till operators when it gets busy.
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>>They serve a double purpose, they are also used to track shoppers movement habits, and stores are laid out on how the experts interpret them to maximise sales.
They also serve a third purpose, especially the Pan,Tilt & Zoom cameras - useful for checking up close whether there are any melons concealed........ or so someone who once worked in shops told me........
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Another (slightly illegal use of the cameras) I know of.
I saw someone bump another car in a Tesco and tried to stop them. They denied it etc and eventually drove off. I reported it to customer services. It turned out the car belonged to a manager of sorts.
So what did they do? They used the cameras to spot the woman at the tills (I had given a description)... and from that they worked out the clubcard used when paying. And from that they looked up the home address. They then popped round and did find the car I reported to them but left it with the police.
The police were looking to do them for driving off after an accident etc. And it was only a parking bump. Serves the driver right IMO for denying what I'd seen her do to someone car!
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I'd keep quiet about it. She'd have a good case against the store if that ever came out.
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>> I'd keep quiet about it. She'd have a good case against the store if that
>> ever came out.
I only have the manager's say that is what happened - but I think it did. She's not to know unless she reads this. She probably managed to get out of the situation by admitting guilt etc. There was more damage to her Mercedes than the car she hit too. And her's was fairly new.
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Richard Maidly got arrested for it once, at what was once the biggest supermarket near me, Tesco in East Didsbury, it is now one of the smallest.
Always denied it but even to this day it is a well known local tail.
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Shop lifting is weasel word for theft, similarly "joyriders" for car thieves.
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I've seen shop lifters being followed about the store and then only apprehended when they try to leave - technically not shop lifting before then I guess. This was a Tesco and they had plain clothes security as well as the obvious one at the door (who can see the cameras etc).
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They'll only tackle when they have left the store without paying, it's a basic point to prove.
Reminds me I was at a conference at the Adlephi Hotel in Liverpool a few years ago - during the lunchbreak I went out to a nearby shop (Cotswold or Blacks) looking for a new waterproof jacket in their sale - I was accompanied by a senior colleague, as we browsed we were closely followed by a security guard (with very bad breath and a skin condition) and could hear our descriptions being passed by radio - very amusing. We were very smartly dressed - very suspicious behaviour !
I bought a coat out spite.
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>> Dunno what the worst crime is theft or a chef stealing cheese from Tesco.
Yes, he should have done it more caerphilly so as not to get caught.
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When I was 9 and my mother was 50 (they had me late) my father dropped dead at our feet from a massive cerebral haemorrhage.
Due to the grief/stress etc., my mum was put on purple hearts (in those days) and was obviously 'not herself'.
She had her collar felt for walking out of a shop with a jar of Nescafe, was charged, and went to court.
She wasn't hard up for money, no more than AWT is but - just don't criticise a man until you've walked in his moccasins etc., try to show a little compassion and don’t be too judgemental when you don’t know the full situation that caused him to do that.
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I was thinking something similar Dog. People do the strangest things in the time of extreme stress.
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I think many do it for the thrill of getting away with it.
Peaches Geldof (not short of a few quid) seems to have suffered some memory lapses as she walked passed the till a few times. Ditto John Terry's mum.
Last edited by: Robin Regal on Mon 9 Jan 12 at 20:07
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The 'celeb' shoplifter has a pretty long history:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isobel_Barnett
Hid the 'swag' in a poacher's pocket in her coat IIRC.
Remember her particularly as she was on the panel when, c1974/5, Any Questions was broadcast from my school.
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>>Strange crime, shoplifting <<
Allegedly this is an antiquated term, for "theft", derived from times gone-by when Shops were no more than canvas stalls by the roadside. One "thief" would keep the trader busy at the front of the stall, whilst his accomplice would "sneak" around the back, and quietly "lift up the canvas" and nick the goodies - hence the terms "shoplifter" and "shoplifting".
Not many folk know that!! ;-)
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Shopkeepers are pretty stressed right now in case anyone hadn't noticed. I've just read a trade mag which quotes some very believable senior people suggesting that based on current retail spending trends we can look forward to 50% of our high street shops being gone within the next 12 months. It also identifies that 20% of our retailers are already in severe rent arrears with no hope of ever trading out of that now.
Thieves, stressed ones or otherwise, are thieves and need to know they will not be tolerated.
Stress? Pah ! We ain't seen nothing yet.
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I did some odd things under my particular brand of stress, but didn't resort to theft by the way...;-)
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>>. Ditto John Terry's mum.
Criminality is a a Terry family gene.
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>> Criminality is a a Terry family gene.
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As he's loudly and constantly reminded when Chelsea visit Upton Park :-)
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>>en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isobel_Barnett<<
"When the more informal culture of the 1960s and 1970s brought an end to her television career, she descended into a reclusive and eccentric existence. In 1980, she was found guilty of shoplifting, being fined £75 for stealing a can of tuna and a carton of cream worth 87p from her village grocer. This brought her briefly back into the public eye, and just four days later, she was found dead in the bath at her home in Cossington, Leicestershire. The coroner returned a verdict of suicide. Kenneth Williams commented in his diary that the prosecution was "so footling and unnecessary". The shopkeeper, Roger Fowkes said it was a "terrible tragedy" and he was "deeply shocked".
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After the Strangeways riots its residents were shipped far and wide. Not a bad earner on overtime but it was like being banged up yourself. Prison Officers have my sympathy.
Anyway a van load of miscreants turned up and we started booking them in. One male was in for a 3 year stretch. When asked what for? He responded with "Theft of almond slices boss". I told him I thought that was a bit steep for shoplifting. He replied, "No it was an artic full of them boss."
You had to laugh :-]
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Perhaps they should have the option of going on a Shoplifting Awareness Course.
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I heard an American academic on the radio who had done some research into solvent shoplifters.
He said many had suffered what they considered to be an unfair loss, so decided someone else should suffer the same.
By unfair loss he meant bereavement and other non-financial losses, as well as loss of money in business or some other way.
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>>I heard an American academic on the radio who had done some research into solvent shoplifters<<
Why would anybody want to filch solvent??
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...Why would anybody want to filch solvent??...
Never heard of glue-sniffing?
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In my school it was a right of passage to nick stuff from Woolies, no-one wanted the stuff it was tat, just to prove you had the bottle.
Last edited by: Zero on Tue 10 Jan 12 at 09:31
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>> In my school it was a right of passage to nick stuff from Woolies,
>> no-one wanted the stuff it was tat, just to prove you had the bottle.
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It seems that kids nicking sweets etc is still a common event hence some small shops having a limit of 2/3 "customers" in the shop at any one time. Supplemented by a person on guard and a queue outside.
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>>Never heard of glue-sniffing?<<
Been there, worn the nosebag - we used to put dab-it-off on a handky and breathe in the fumes back in the 60's, which had quite an amazing (but too short lived) effect.
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Who hasn't built models and laughed nervously at the scene where Adrian Mole's taken to hospital with a bit stuck to his nose.
Not to mention the ether based, model diesel engine fuel I used in the '60s. Doping tissue covered models was so much more fun than the modern shrink-wrapped stuff.
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Back in the 70's I used to work with Evo-Stik impact adhesive which used to 'affect' me when I think back, although I never 'sniffed' it on porpoise, like, as I'd growd up by then, somewhat.
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'Doping tissue covered models was so much more fun than the modern shrink-wrapped stuff.'
Building a retro rubber powered mode at the moment - looking froward to that bit!
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Last edited by: CGNorwich on Tue 10 Jan 12 at 10:04
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No wonder so many of you are apparently brain-dead.
Ever tried petrol? Of course leaded was far better than this wimpish modern stuff.
Street children in Bogotá used to swear by it. But unlike all of you, they couldn't afford proper drugs.
Sneer...
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>>Ever tried petrol? Of course leaded was far better than this wimpish modern stuff<<
Lead is bad for your elf though Sire.
:)
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The Antony Worrall Thompson Diet
Cheese and Wine........ followed by porridge!
Last edited by: Duncan on Tue 10 Jan 12 at 12:21
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>> Cheese and Wine........ followed by porridge!
Along with serving some thyme.
Apparently Nigella Lawson's also been at it. She was seen running out of Tesco with two large melons under her coat.
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Chef Anthony Worrall Thompson has been caught shoplifting milk, yeast and flour from his local Tesco. He’s clearly run out of dough.
I went to see Ready, Steady, Cook the other day. It was fantastic. Antony Worrall Thompson absolutely stole the show.
Asked how he feels about stealing a packet of cheese, Antony Worrall Thompson admits it wasn’t very mature – but he stole it anyway
“Morning Sergeant”. ”Morning Constable”. ”What have you got for me today”. ” We have Anthony Worrell Thompson in possession of stolen cheese”. ”Right then lets grill him”
Chef Anthony Worrall Thompson is thinking about reviving his flagging career by taking up singing.
Gary Barlow and Robbie Williams are said to be interested in forming a new super group, but are not sure about the name Take This Take That.
There's no such thing as a free lunch.
Unless you're using the Anthony Worrall Thompson recipe book.
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No, I think he's a chef ;o)
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Isn't he the spitting image of Robin Cook?
No wonder he turned to crime.
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>> Was he a kleptomaniac?
>>
I once worked with a bloke who was a Pyromaniac.
In the end he got fired.
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I had a great cake at Antony Worall Thomson's restaurant.... It was stollen.
Why did the chicken cross the road?..... Because he was stuffed under Antony Worall Thomson's jacket!
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>> Why did the chicken cross the road?..... Because he was stuffed under Antony Worall Thomson's
>> jacket!
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The theft of cheese was just Emmental aberration. He'll think more Caerphilly in future.
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terrible joke, I Camembert it, I Gouda go.
Last edited by: Zero on Thu 12 Jan 12 at 15:16
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>> terrible joke, I Camembert it, I Gouda go.
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Shoplifting is a skilled Kraft.
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>> He'll think more Caerphilly in future.
I did that one further up the thread ;o)
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>> I did that one further up the thread ;o)
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Sorry VX. I was plagiarising but from the Guardian's correspondents
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I guess AWT was a solvernt shop lifter, unless he had left his cash at home!
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Sensible analysis of solvent, sorry, well-off shoplifters here:
www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-16469928
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>> Sensible analysis of solvent, sorry, well-off shoplifters here:
All right, but a bit verbose by your alleged standards Iffy. The Freudian/Kleinian explanation is really far more concise (see my post above).
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Little Chef set for bankruptcy....
That explains why he was thieving from Tesco then!
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I like Little Chefs.
Nice fry-up or other knife and fork meal, tea in pots, and the pancakes are yummy.
Waitress service, proper tables and chairs, and usually Little Chefs are usually away from the service station hoards.
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I have a soft spot for them too, reasonable coffee, the Olympic breakfast is still a corker, griddled not swimming in grease, and the pancakes with ice cream are good, usually affable staff.
Wouldnt eat anything else there tho, no not tried Popham yet.
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SWMBO and I popped in Popham Little Chef last year more from a need to use the loo than a great desire to eat but we both had a cuppa and a bacon sarnie and we were interested to see the place after the makeover.
It was a bit strange having a 'greeter' to seat you when you only want a quick bite.
My verdict - Sarnie very nice, interesting decor and friendly staff who seemed to enjoy their jobs but certainly not cheap.
Next time I head to the west country I might try the full dining experience there.
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Antony Worral Thomson is accused of stealing ten bottles of wine. The Crown Prosecution Service said he'd have to go away and nick two more bottles before they could make a case of it..
Ted
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In my louche bohemian youth I knew a number of people who shoplifted. They varied in their attitudes to stealing, and they stole different things, but in a narrow range: clothes, books, records, cars. They were, and please understand what I mean here, of different social classes, and some were really very rich. But none of the people I knew well was a professional who lived even in part by thieving. None of them really needed to do it altough one or two perhaps imagined they did... and one or two got into genuine trouble for it of course... but all things pass.
Never did it myself. Well I did nick a bottle of milk off a doorstep for breakfast once, three decades before they stopped delivering milk like that because everyone was doing it.
Never tried pimping or selling my, er, body to either sex either, although I could have... Didn't fancy it somehow. Just irredeemably po-faced and bourgeois, that's me. Anyway I was when young enough to do that sort of thing. Perhaps I'm more depraved now, but it's too late.
Heh heh.
Last edited by: Armel Coussine on Sat 14 Jan 12 at 02:59
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His recipes have been re-worded to start, "Make sure no-one's looking..."
Last edited by: Robin Regal on Sat 14 Jan 12 at 17:08
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Did anyone see him on ITVs "That Sunday Night Show?"
He had the mick taken out of him on there too.
But I think we now ought to go easy on Antony Worrall Thompson...For all we know he might be having emmental breakdown.
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>> But I think we now ought to go easy on Antony Worrall Thompson...For all we
>> know he might be having emmental breakdown.
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They'll be watching for it. You know the stuff; catatonic expression and a Roquefort & back body action.
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Slippery character, bit of a dick if you ask me.
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While in Northants: www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-northamptonshire-16701774
"I'm not going in there, he's armed with a ........................ mop".
Made me laugh.
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>Slippery character, bit of a dick if you ask me.
Quite simple really,
he needed it to lubricate his weapon.
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>> >Slippery character, bit of a dick if you ask me.
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>> Quite simple really,
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>> he needed it to lubricate his weapon.
I hear he is firing blanks tho?
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>I hear he is firing blanks tho?
But they had hard evidence I think.
Last edited by: Kevin on Tue 24 Jan 12 at 20:24
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Jonathan Ross has been accused of shoplifting a kitchen utensil from Tesco.
He said it was a whisk he was prepared to take.
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Strange crime, shoplifting - Runfer D'Hills
