Who would steal from a hospice shop?

Clothing is as cheap as it gets at Take 2, but some people still help themselves. Photo / Peter Jackson

Who would steal from a hospice shop? That's a question staff and volunteers at Kaitaia's Take 2, without which the town's hospice would struggle to survive, have asked themselves many times.

They were asking it again on Tuesday, but this time they hope to find out.

Very CCTV images of a man, well dressed with a shaved head, who stole from the shop at a few minutes after midday on Tuesday have gone to the police, in the expectation that someone will be able to name him.

The man entered the shop with a woman, who was not entirely above suspicion, but it was he who instantly placed himself on the most wanted list when he walked out with a $75 pair of leather trousers without paying for them.

Manager Sharon Joyce said shoplifting was an ongoing problem, although some thefts possibly went unnoticed. Tuesday's thief was a regular customer, although no one was able to name him, which made his actions even more difficult to understand.

"You would think people would have the decency not to steal from a shop that raises funds for a cause like hospice," she said.

A lesser but more common form of dishonesty was also plaguing her and her staff and volunteers, in the form of people who donated goods that were far beyond redemption.

"Everything has to be sorted through when it arrives now," Sharon said.

"We get things that are broken, things that are dirty, even soiled nappies. People assure that they're fine, they're clean, they work, but when we look through them they're not. They don't want to pay to take them to the dump so they bring them here."

The problem, and cost, of dumping them then became the responsibility of hospice.