Mum-of-three Nathalie Fullerton, 42, grabbed the man as he attempted to flee with a four-pack of beer. And she says there has been a surge in crimes like it recently.
08:43, 03 Jan 2026Updated 08:44, 03 Jan 2026
(Image: UGC)
A brave Glasgow shop owner has described how she confronted a brazen thief on Hogmanay amid what she thinks is an escalating retail crime wave putting workers at risk. Mum-of-three Nathalie Fullerton, who operates a One Stop store in Partick, revealed she “saw red” when the New Year reveller tried to bolt from her premises with £9 worth of stolen booze.
The 42-year-old tackled the man at the shop’s entrance, on Dumbarton Road, with their scuffle spilling onto the pavement before he abandoned the items and ran off.
Nathalie said the incident happened just a few months after another man pulled a blade on her, again when she chased him for stealing alcohol. Her story follows shocking statistics revealing a massive 25% surge in shoplifting offences across Scotland this year, reports the Daily Record.
Nathalie said: “I’ve had the shop for more than six years now. You get an instinct for when someone is being shifty or by what they’re picking up.
(Image: UGC)
“This guy had a four pack of Budweiser cans and a tin of Dragon Soup. I came out of the till area and went to stand to pretend to fix the water in the fridge by the door.
“I knew he was going to try and run. I just thought, ‘no you’re not getting away with this’.”
The former police officer was filmed on her own CCTV system grabbing the culprit as she was dragged along the pavement.
And while she has previously reported other thieves to authorities, she said this particular incident was not worth chasing.
The mum admitted: “Incidents like this are not daily thankfully, but it’s pretty often.
“I only challenged him because it’s my store. I certainly wouldn’t expect my staff members to do the same.
“When it’s your stock it becomes personal. In smaller stores we can hardly afford any shrinkage at all with the rising costs at the moment.
“When I see someone trying to steal and being so blasé about it I just see red. They’re literally taking that money out of our children’s mouths, because we have to support our families through the business.
“I’m not having a dig at the police by any means, but they are so far stretched at the moment that they don’t have the resources to deal with a guy trying to steal cans from a shop, which equates to about £9.50.
(Image: Alasdair MacLeod/Daily Record)
“All they can do is raise a crime number, which you can take to your insurance. But for that amount, it’s only going to raise your premiums and will only affect us, the retailer.”
In November, The Scottish Grocers’ Federation demanded urgent resources for Police Scotland to tackle retail crime, after Scottish Government statistics revealed a shocking 25% surge in shoplifting offences this year – up 70% from September 2020.
Nathalie understands the perils of challenging thieves firsthand, having been threatened with a blade around Halloween.
The individual, disguised as Crocodile Dundee with a red bandana covering his face, approached the counter asking for a half bottle of Buckfast, but when staff told him his card was declined, he snatched the bottle and fled.
Nathalie recalled: “I ran after him. It’s a stupid instinct and everyone tells me off for doing it.
“I caught him and pulled him back by his top and he turned about with a knife in his hand. He said ‘do you want this instead you p**ki b***ard. I instantly let go and thought ‘what am I doing? I’m running around after a £5.75 bottle of Buckfast. That really shook me.”
(Image: Alasdair MacLeod/Daily Record)
She chose not to report this terrifying incident due to lack of surveillance footage, and said she wouldn’t be able to identify the costumed culprit again.
However, she says she’s determined to stand up for her business, as the Hogmanay incident shows.
She said: “I could tell this guy was a chancer and just wanted free alcohol for New Year. That’s why I was determined not to let go of him.”
Police Scotland’s Retail Crime Taskforce, created to tackle shoplifting, abuse and assaults against retail staff, reported that in its first six months after launch (April to October 2025) it detected more than 500 retail offences, made 65 arrests, recovered £25,000 of stolen goods and brought 234 charges.