Londonderry shop owner receives apology for 30-year-old theft

Londonderry shop owner receives apology for 30-year-old theft
A Londonderry shop owner has received an anonymous letter apologising for stealing from him 30 years ago.
Jim Barr said he has no idea who sent the anonymous card with its apology for the £10 theft at his mobile shop in Carnhill decades ago.
The message, which thanked him for “not bringing shame on my ma and da” by exposing the crime.
The culprit suspected Mr Barr knew of the theft at the time, saying: “I’m sure you knew. I’m sure your till was down a tenner that day.”
Speaking to the BBC, Mr Barr said: “I haven’t a clue who it was, but a friend of mine who’s a teacher pointed out that it’s probably a fella [boy] as a girl in Derry would tend to say ‘mammy and daddy’ rather than ma and da.
“And I’m guessing they were about 12 or 13 so they’re probably in their early 40s now.”
He explained that in the nineties, pupils from the nearby St Columb’s College were the most regular customers in the mornings.
“There was just one shop and 250 odd houses here, so we would have had a lot of boys calling in for sweets and crisps before school,” he said.
“I don’t need to know who it was because it’s not important, but what I would love is for the person to meet up with me on the quiet so we could go down memory lane and have a laugh about it and say nothing to anyone.”
The letter said: “I pretended my ma and da gave me a £20 when they only gave me £10.
“You knew. You told me to double check. I pretended I did and so you gave me the extra £10.”
They also included two £20 notes in compensation for the loss and interest.
He or she then thanked him for not mentioning it to their parents and for being “a pillar of the community”.
Mr Barr said: “This is a person of faith and this must have been playing on his conscience for years.
“He gave me back £40, that’s the tenner and a pound of interest for every year.”