A jewellery shop in Merchants Street, Valletta was robbed twice in the space of about three months, losing an estimated €18,000 worth of gold items in the latest theft, yesterday afternoon.

Both Alfie Jewellery and other outlets in that road had been robbed in the past, salesgirls confirmed.

The robbery yesterday was carried out by a man in a cap, who deceptively asked the young shop assistant to see some items in a showcase. As soon as she opened it, he snatched the gold items and made a run for it, dropping some on the floor, shop owner Alfie Agius said.

He ran up the road and the salesgirl came out of the shop, screaming and crying but unhurt, he said.

Mr Agius was almost resigned to the situation now, saying there was nothing he could do and asking for more police presence in the area.

“I have an alarm and security systems but these things still happen,” he said, not sure what more he could do to prevent a recurrence, short of closing the shop between 1 and 4 p.m. when, he claimed, most thefts occurred and the street was quieter.

Of course, that would mean losing out on business, so he would have to weigh the pros and the cons, he said.

The theft happened at about 1.45 p.m. after the owner had just left, leaving the outlet manned only by a petite 20-year-old, something Mr Agius felt could have been taken into consideration by the robber.

“Had I been here, things would have turned out differently,” he said. “I would have retaliated. He would not have dared had he seen me.”

As things stood, Mr Agius maintained, thieves were taking advantage of the young girls holding the fort, knowing they would be scared stiff and not resist.

Young salesgirls from neighbouring shops said they had no idea what was going on next door until they saw their colleague rush outdoors in tears.

“She was yelling so frantically I almost thought it was laughter at first,” said one of them. “Even we got a fright, let alone had it happened to us.”

The salesgirl did not give chase and a man from a neighbouring shop failed to catch up with the robber. But police investigating the crime had a “good idea” who the perpetrator was and inspected CCTV footage from the shop as they dusted for fingerprints.

The thief was also caught on the cameras of other buildings in the commercial area.

Mr Agius said the man who had stolen jewellery from his shop some time ago had never been caught and the goods never returned. He was hoping the outcome would be different this time.

Other salesgirls in Merchants Street admitted they did not feel totally comfortable, pointing out the audacity of a man who snatched a handbag from a woman in a nearby packed shoe shop on a busy Christmas Day. “She screamed so much, I think she managed to hold on to it and he ran away,” one of them recalled. “On my part, I actually have to stick alarms to the mission boxes because they are constantly being nabbed.

“If I see someone looking suspicious, I make sure I come out from behind the counter and stand in the entrance to the shop with my phone so I won’t get trapped inside. But I would never give chase as I cannot leave the outlet alone. You never know whether it is all been planned and someone is just waiting for you to leave.

“Maybe I watch too many forensic films but it’s amazing what can happen here,” she said.

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