“We can’t do anything. They know we can’t run after them.” These were the words of one Gregg’s shopkeeper, who had just witnessed a man steal a sandwich from her very store.
The act of theft occurred in the Greggs in Gravesend’s town centre, on the 28th of October at around half two in the afternoon. I was among many of the casual shoppers queuing up for a luscious sausage role, and it was in this queue in which I saw the inquisitive look on the female shopkeeper’s face over the counter. Her penetrating gaze led to a white man over six foot in height, with long, grey hair and donning a black coat. At least in his late-thirties, the man removed a sandwich from the rack, which was perpendicular to the counter, and then hid it within his coat.
In the words of the shopkeeper, the man, “hid behind you [those in the queue], so I couldn’t see him. Then he left.” It was clear that the man had deliberately used the queue as a smokescreen to cover his escape, before walking out of the store’s doors without so much as a glance at the shopkeeper.
Many would now ask why didn’t someone stop him before he left the store; why did no one prevent him from escaping with this stolen good? The local Greggs is a small store, and only had about six or seven customers in there at the time. Of those, only myself and the shopkeeper actually saw the man before he had left the building, and even then, few would’ve bet on us being able to stop the scrubby brute.
The thing with crimes like this is emotions like trepidation, with us being intimidated and fearful rather than just going out and stopping the man. “There goes another one”, were some more words from the shopkeeper, implying that incidents like this are commonplace.
The truth is, very little is being done to stop petty crimes like these.
Greggs has a CCTV operating system, and one can only hope that they utilise this and hunt down the man who stole the sandwich. However, as the woman rightfully commented, the man knew that she couldn’t run after him, meaning that unless someone else reacted he wouldn’t have much difficulty. Security around the town centre is painfully thin, with police an uncommon site. Knowing that there are men like this one strolling around the town waiting to strike is a frightening thought, one which makes you look at every person differently.
Simply put, more needs to be done to prevent crimes like this. More security, feeling safe and confident enough to approach a criminal, policeman strolling around; all these things would make the average person feel a lot more comfortable, and hopefully cut down shoplifting to a minimum.
One can only hope that the vile committer of this crime is caught, sooner rather than later.
Joe Paternoster, Gravesend Grammar School
