Stopping sneaky shoplifters
After welcoming us all and the customary singing of Jerusalem, our President Penny Bailey continued with our A.G.M. We were reminded of a varied programme of events by the secretary's report. Our year had included a visit to Heath House in Tean, Highgrove garden and an interesting range of speakers. Some of our members had attended events at the County Showground and Craft workshops. One member had visited Denman College. Two members, Gill Brown and Pauline McDonnell were thanked for their outstanding contributions to the committee. Gill has held all the posts of responsibility on the committee many times over! She has been the font of all knowledge and will be greatly missed. Pauline will hopefully return to the committee after a year’s sabbatical. Both ladies were presented with a bouquet of flowers from Penny. The rest of the meeting was taken up by our interesting speaker Mary Dale.

GILL RECEIVES HER FLOWERS
Mary started work in the police force and then went on to become Chief Security Officer for Beatties. She gave us an insight into the world of the petty criminal. Her talk was littered with anecdotes and stories about shoplifters she had dealt with over the years. Most thieves would have some article of clothing that could be used to conceal the stolen item. A pair of sheepskin gloves can apparently hide a pair of briefs and bra and a Rastafarian hat easily disguises a pair of children’s shoes! The wearer of the Rastafarian hat cannot be searched as the hat is considered a religious item.
All stores operate a cascade system so that all are informed of thieves in the area. Dixons, the paint and wallpaper shop, had noticed a beautiful girl, a known thief in their store. She was found carrying 5 rolls of wallpaper in her crotch causing a very peculiar walk! It was now known where this girl was hiding her stolen loot. Another incident involved a £300 a day heroin addict with two babies and another on the way. The store had noticed a whole shelf of clocks go missing so the shelf was watched carefully all day. At 4.30 in the afternoon nothing untoward had happened. Then suddenly another row of clocks had gone. Luckily the camera had recorded the whole event and it was clear that the pregnant girl had managed to steal all the clocks in 8 mins and 10 secs!
Other incidents in the store Mary had to deal with, included letter bombs, a dead body found in the toilet and numerous hoaxes. A coded bomb alert meant that all wallets and purses had to be searched for a small device. Mary had given us a very humorous insight into the world of petty thieving.
Our May Market is on Saturday 18th May from 1.30 pm- 4.30 pm. Please keep this day free in your diaries. Now is the time to sort out any unwanted items for a bric a brac stall. This is our main fundraising event so please support it if possible. Our next meeting is on April 10th when our speaker is Carol E Wyer who will be talking on Ageing Disgracefully. Please contact Penny Bailey on 01543 472756 for further information.
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