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A Thief Apologised for Stealing From Woolworths After 43 Years

The guilt gets you in the end.
Image via Shutterstock

Everyone steals from supermarkets. Maybe you do it the old fashioned way—an avo in a pocket. Or the new world order way—everything put through self-checkout as brown onions. And we always assumed people felt pretty okay about it; told themselves it was a way to stick it to big business, not a sign of general moral decay. But we were wrong, because one individual who stole two chocolate bars in 1975 has been feeling really bad about it for 45 years.

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The thief was a kid when he pocketed the treats from the Woolworths at Belle Vale Shopping Centre in Liverpool, UK. Decades on he set out to make things right, sending the centre a £5 note and a letter that read, “I stole two bars of chocolate from Woolworths in your shopping centre in 1975, when I was a little boy. I apologise, I didn’t know any better here’s the money I owe you for them.”

His guilt lasted longer than the store, which has since gone out of business. The centre is donating the £5—$AU8.92—to Zoe’s Place baby hospice instead. They shared the letter on their Facebook page with the comment “Restoring our faith in humanity”.

Speaking to the Liverpool Echo, a spokesperson for the Belle Vale Shopping Centre added that they wanted to “thank the sender and acknowledge his apology. It is a positive message that is worth sharing to encourage all to be kind.”

Cute story. But you’re never getting the $6 for that overpriced avo I stole in 2010.