Where are they when you really need one? Probably in Boots the chemists, tackling hardened criminals such as 12 year old Hannah Gilbert.
Finding herself with a day off school, she popped into Boots and was having a look at the nail stuff, as millions of people do.
Unable to see anything labeled as a ‘tester’, she made the mistake of putting a small amount on one thumb nail to see how it looked. That was it. The security guard in the shop suddenly appeared and advised her that unless she purchased the product, she would be guilty of theft.
One might have expected to at this stage that, having frightened the cra living daylights out of the girl, she would have been sent packing with a severe reprimand. But no. She was carted off to the office and the police were called in. Not just one turned up, but three!
The sobbing girl was held for an hour. When the parents arrived, they were informed of their rights and told that the girl could be forcibly restrained if necessary as she was over ten years old.
The parents paid for the bottle of nail polish and, eventually, the girl was released into their custody.
You obviously can’t have anyone and everyone sampling products in shops, unless they are suitably marked as ‘samples’ or ‘testers’, but three policemen, a security guard and a manager seems just a trifle OTT in such a case.