Mystery angel’s act of kindness restores Barnstaple tackle shop owner’s faith in humanity

The owner of Barnstaple Bait & Tackle has hailed the amazing community spirit among local anglers and says his faith in humanity has been restored following an upsetting shop lifting incident.

Chris Connaughton was angry and upset yesterday (Monday, June 9) when shop CCTV showed a man appearing to pocket and steal items from the store.

But when he opened up this morning (Tuesday) he was overwhelmed to find someone had taken the time to post an envelope containing money and a personal message which urged him ‘never let the bad guys win’.

The anonymous benefactor went on to write: ‘The enclosed at least balances the finances out hopefully after your theft.

‘Every pound is hard earnt – so start the day back at square one on me. Take care’.

Chris said: “Nobody had to do that and it just changed my mindset, because as you can imagine I was quite angry as the theft was taking out of mine and my family’s pockets.

“It’s nice to have that faith in humanity restored and know that not everybody is out for themselves. So for someone to do that… it’s not even the money side, I was almost crying this morning when I saw that.

“That person does not realise what they have done by such a little gesture.”

Above: The note from the kind mystery donor.

Chris opened the Queen Street store in July last year after the closure of the town’s only other tackle shop at the time, Quay Sports, where he worked.

It has quickly become a busy and integral part of the angling community in Barnstaple and North Devon, organising competitions and helping to sponsor events.

In a Facebook post yesterday, Chris described the shoplifting incident and how angry it had made him feel and said he had taken it very personally.

A man had been browsing in the shop and staff suspected he may have taken something, but when they approached him it appeared to be a misunderstanding. However when they reviewed the CCTV they believed he had stolen at least two items. The footage has been passed on to the police.

Chris said: “Just to make people aware, I have got full HD CCTV in the shop and theft will not be tolerated.

“But it’s just lovely to know that from such a negative thing, we have a great community and that there’s someone around that will support me.”

He took to Facebook again this morning to thank the mystery donor, saying: “To the person that did this, thank you so much, you really don’t realise how much that actually meant to me, I hope you have such a lovely day.

“To the person that stole, this just shows the community will not be beaten and we will stand together.

“Thank you so much once again to the anonymous person, you really have made an upset shop owner feel whole again.”