英國男子10年偷200多件外套 辦展覽招領兼贖罪

Artist Mike Ballard, 38, has just opened an exhibition: Whose coat is that jacket you're wearing? – consisting of 200-odd coats that Ballard has stolen in a decade-long time in London, UK.

藝術家麥克•巴拉德近期在英國倫敦開辦展覽，展出十多年自己偷來的200多件衣服。展覽名是“哪件是你曾經穿過的夾克？”

And Ballard now hopes to return as many to the original owners as possible, providing he has enough details of the thefts to convince them.

現在巴拉德希望儘可能將這些偷來的衣服物回原主，並提供自己偷竊的足夠細節以便說服人們相信他。

After the first 30 coats or so, he began documenting the date and places of the crimes as well as pocket contents which ranged from tissues to knives. He was shocked into stopping last year when he took what he fears was a groom's coat complete with diamond ring. "I'm not proud about what I've done and I realize that I need to make amends and return the coats to their rightful owners," he said.

偷了頭30件外套後，他開始紀錄偷每件外套的時間和地點，及自己在偷來的衣服口袋裏發現的物件，有面紙，也有小刀。去年當他在一件可能是新郎的外套中發現一枚鑽石戒指，心靈受到極大的震撼，從此停止偷竊行爲。他說：“對自己的所爲，我感到萬分羞愧。我意識到必須改正行爲，把這些年來（偷來的）外套歸還給失主。”

The crime spree began when his smart new purchased jacket was stolen from the Griffin pub in Shoreditch in 1999. Then maybe a month after it had gone, he was really drunk in a pub and it was just a split-second thing. He thought maybe he'll steal his own coat back.

巴拉德的偷竊行爲始於1999年，他新買的外套在西爾狄區的格里芬酒吧被偷走。大約一個月後，他在酒吧喝醉了，然後偷來一件外套，這也是一瞬間發生的事。他抱着“或許可以把自己的外套偷回來”的希望，持續順手牽羊。

Ballard, who graduated in fine arts from Central Saint Martins three years ago, admits that putting on the show at Walker's Tailor, Robert Street, is risky. "I hope I don't get into too much trouble," he said. Police were unable to comment.

巴拉德語三年前畢業於中央聖馬丁（藝術與設計學院），所修美術專業。他稱自己在羅伯特大街"Walker's Tailor"舉辦的展覽是有風險的。他說：“我希望自己不會因此惹上麻煩。”警察對此也沒有異議。