A bemused shop owner has received an anonymous letter and a £100 in cash to apologise for his sign being stolen 15 years ago.
A ‘former foolish student’ had pinched Imran Ashraf’s sign that hung outside his shop, Exotica Foods in Swansea, more than a decade ago after a raucous night out.
With age, the culprit wrote that he had realised that his theft would have caused some ‘inconvenience’ for the international supermarket despite it being ‘funny’ at the time and hoped to make up for his past mistakes with his contribution.
The thief wrote: ‘Some 15 years ago as a student, following a night of drinking, I and another came across a temporary PVC banner hanging from your shop.
‘For some reason we thought it would be funny to bring this home with us.
‘As an older man, I now see that what seemed funny to us at the time, likely caused your shop some inconvenience.
‘I would like to offer my apology and hope you will accept this compensation.
‘A former foolish student.’
A bemused shop owner has received an anonymous letter and a £100 in cash to apologise for his sign being stolen 15 years ago
A ‘former foolish student’ had pinched Imran Ashraf’s (pictured) sign that hung outside his shop, Exotica Foods in Swansea, more than a decade ago after a raucous night out
There was no further information about the culprit, however the stamp showed it was sent from West Yorkshire.
Mr Ashraf shared the letter and an image of the five £20 notes on Facebook, adding ‘this has made my morning thank you to who ever you are’.
He explained that the day after the theft he had ‘turned up in the morning’ and the ‘big yellow temporary sign’ was gone.
He said: ‘How someone got up there and took it down and got it home. Fair play.
‘It was up for a while and had temporary sign written in the corner. We thought someone probably thought that’s temporary enough and took it away.’
However the £100 is merely a fraction of the price it cost to replace the pilfered sign, which ended up totalling closer to £1,200.
Instead, Mr Ashraf said the money would ‘hopefully going towards a custom gazebo for outside the shop so we can hopefully start doing some cooking vids this summer’.
The post was met with humour by locals, with Paul Gent commenting ‘that must have been one hell of a guilt trip. Interpol can rest easy tonight’.
Margo Leadbetter added: ‘There is hope for the world after all!’
Others have come to the praise of the self-conscious thief, with Purvez Cooper writing ‘well done young man, a man of honour’.
Mumin Islam Uddin added: ‘A lovely, kind gesture to make amends for his foolish actions from years ago.’
Tina Thomas said: ‘Awww that’s so sweet. Well done to whoever it was.’
Nasir Naz Malik wrote: ‘Well done. For the gesture ….. a first! This may well prompt others (a minuscule minority) that have caused havoc in the past.’
It is not the only time a grovelling thief has tried to make amends for foolish mistakes.
Last year, a guilt-stricken, self-styled ‘Flower Pot Bandit’ sent a ‘sorry for your loss’ card complete with £20 to a pub after he was caught drunkenly swiping a plant pot on CCTV.
Kevin Barber, who owns Northern Monkey in Lytham St Annes, Lancashire, was ‘shocked’ to discover a customer had nicked an artificial plant within a day of him putting it out.
CCTV footage from a fortnight ago shows the ‘drunk’ thief who signed the card ‘Mr. Flower Pot Bandit’ grabbing the LED-lit decoration from a garden table and sauntering away.
The Flower Pot Bandit sent a guilt-stricken apology card to the Northern Monkey for pinching their new plant pot
The thief had been drinking the pubs strongest beer all day and staff believe his intoxication was behind their humorous antics
The pub posted a lighthearted Facebook plea for the mystery man to return the £8 item and five days later staff found a remorseful condolence card with £20 inside.
It read: ‘I’m so sorry for the loss of your light up table display. I’m afraid I may have had one too many of your lovely beers.
‘If I could return it I would but I’m not sure as to where it ended up.
‘I hope the money compensates for your loss.
‘Yours sincerely sorry, The Flower Pot Bandit.
‘P.S. I promise not to do it again.’
Mr Barber, 55, says he found the whole situation ‘hilarious’ and has now asked his brewers to create a new beer called ‘The Flower Pot Bandit’.
