Forget the track, the most impressive sprinters are often found in the high street these days, racing round corners, laden with shopping bags of steak and smoked salmon.
My most recent glimpse of a shoplifter was in Liverpool, between sessions at the Labour Party conference, shooting out from a Tesco, fired up on adrenaline. But I’ve seen similar scenes unfold in Bristol, London and sleepy towns in Devon. Often thieves are much more furtive, slipping an extra item or two into their bags, unscanned.
