CHARITY shop volunteers are making a direct appeal to a thief who stole a designer jacket as charities across East Yorkshire are targeted by criminals.
A £300 Ted Baker leather jacket, on sale for £90, was stolen from the Oxfam in Beverley, with the thief replacing it with a pink hoody on a mannequin to cover up their crime.
In a video message on the Mail's website and in an open letter to the crook, one volunteer from the shop said: "Dear thief, are you enjoying wearing your brand-new Ted Baker leather jacket?
"That's the one you stole from the charity shop in Beverley just a few days ago. It was really thoughtful of you to leave your old coat behind. Did you think that we might be able to sell it?
"It will, no doubt, carry much of your DNA, around the cuffs and the small hairs on the collar.
"The main thing is, thief, you are really stealing from the very poorest people on earth."
Oxfam is not the only shop to be targeted by thieves in the past week as stores in Hull city centre find themselves confronting people on a daily basis.
Margaret Hutchinson, manager of the British Heart Foundation in Prospect Street, said raiders regularly replace expensive items with their own clothing.
She said: "Some of the volunteers are vulnerable and thieves wait around until they are the only ones on the shop floor.
"They then attempt to steal and I'm buzzed from upstairs and come down and ask them to put things back. I fear for my life doing it.
"They could have a knife or anything, but it's not for the volunteers to confront them.
"A few months ago, we also had new goods stolen, including a £40 elephant ornament, along with second-hand DVDs.
"I collared a man stuffing a John Rocha jacket into his own jacket and said, 'Can I have that back, please?' before he gave it back and left."
Police say there is no evidence gangs are deliberately going into charity shops to steal, although thieves regularly take bagged-up donations from charity shop doorways.
A Humberside Police spokesman said: "A theft from any shop is a criminal offence and one from a charity shop means not only does that shop lose revenue, but a worthwhile cause also loses out on money.
"Police would ask people in shops to be vigilant and report any potential shop theft to the staff in the shop so the offender can be dealt with accordingly."
Charity stores are signed up to the Shopwatch scheme in Beverley and regularly pass information to each other about suspicious characters or incidents of theft.
With the economic downturn, more shoppers are swapping big chains for second-hand stores. Oxfam, along with others, now have designer sections within their shops so customers can look stylish for less.
The Ted Baker jacket had been donated as end-of-line stock by the fashion label and came with its original tags.
Oxfam shop manager Joe Sutherland said: "A customer asked one of our staff if we could explain why there was a pink hoodie on the mannequin, that's when we realised.
"Someone must have switched it for the jacket and just put the jacket in a bag and left the store."
The Oxfam shop is divided into front and back sections making it difficult for the staff to see the whole shop at once.
Security has been stepped up since the theft but staff admit it's not the first time it has happened.
Mr Sutherland, 23, said: "That was the most expensive example but there have been others.
"We have people easing off the price tickets from some items and putting them on others."
The shop's volunteers cover a wide range of ages and different levels of experience.
Some are recent graduates hoping to do some good while, at the same time, giving their CV a head start.
Mr Sutherland said: "It's still worthwhile what we're doing but it makes you wonder.
"We're putting all this effort in and then something like this happens.
"I know we've not lost any money because the item was donated but it still does a disservice to the people who have donated it."
Such an expensive item is likely to simply have been sold on for profit.
But staff believe it could have been stolen to be worn.
The open letter to the thief from the shop staff points out what the charity could have done with the money.
Examples include providing safe water for 100 people, providing 15 mosquito nets to save lives from malaria, educating five children for a whole year and providing trained teachers for poor communities.
The letter concludes: "I would like to think that your conscience may be making you feel just a bit uncomfortable each time you wear your new jacket, but perhaps that is too much to expect from a thief."
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