'People keep walking out without paying, like they have nothing to lose. There's nothing I can do to stop it'
manchestereveningnews.co.ukLast week the owner of a newsagents in Rochdale town centre, was assaulted as he tried to stop two shoplifters stealing vapes from behind the counter. "They just came in and grabbed what they could," the 54-year-old, who gives his name only as Mr Hussain, says. "One of them pushed me in the shoulder.
It's been hurting ever since. Inside Greater Manchester's cost of living crisis: Scraping by after 50 years of work The man and the woman made off with around £100 worth of e-cigs.
They came back, a short while later, took a drink from the fridge and a bar of chocolate from the shelf and walked out again without paying.
It was just the latest in a number of thefts Mr Hussain has experienced in recent months. "I'd say it's [shoplifting] doubled or trebled since covid," he says. "They come in and take a bag of crisps, or a bar of chocolate and just walk out.
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