An apology to all low life junkies out there

When I wrote about my handbag being nicked I know that I suggested that the thief must have been some desperate crack addict in need of his next hit. The thing is he probably wasn't. If he does take drugs I think cocaine would be more his style.

It happened in the kind of pub where such a person would struggle to get through the door. It happened in fact in this pub where I have just seen a comment from someone saying he had his i-pod and digital camera nicked in there. It is in a posh area, and it has not got CCTV.

The guy we think actually took it was about 50ish and looked very middle class. What is more,we think he was probably just one of a gang, one of whom provided the distraction of a cute puppy for me to coo over whilst another snatched the bag. Since then they have been travelling aorund the mobile phone shops of Greater London getting phone contracts, and gear from department stores on credit, all by using my identity.

You just don't think until it happens to you but for example my pay slip was in my bag. With that one little bit of paper they know where I live, my date of birth, national insurance number ,salary, bank details, and who I work for...everything in other words, they could possibly need when combined with a driving licence or credit cards to have proof of their (false)identity.

What I am trying to say here is that this wasn't an opportunist theft by a junkie after cash. It was theft by people who do this stuff for a living - and presumably thanks to e-bay, a very lucrative living. (Now I know how where all those mobiles they auction off come from.) So I feel I should a) apologise to junkies everywhere, and b) say to everyone else, don't be as bloody stupid as I was because there will always be some unscrupulous bastard waiting to take advantage of that stupidity.