Magician in plea after straitjacket disappears

PROP TAKEN FROM OUTSIDE SHOP ON THE BARBICAN

- WILLIAM TELFORD

A PLYMOUTH magician is pleading for the return of his beloved straitjacket after it was taken from outside his shop on the Barbican.

Mal Norton said he is lost without the prop which he used in shows and has been a talking point for passersby in front of his shop for a decade.

Mr Norton - who performs as ‘M the head of Top Secret Magic’ - said: “It’s left a gaping hole, it’s very weird. It’s an iconic thing and should be outside my shop - I feel naked without it being there.”

The straitjacket was nabbed from outside his store, The World’s Smallest Magic and Joke Shop, in Southside Street in daylight on Saturday afternoon. He said two men were captured on CCTV loitering outside the store, in the famous House that Jack Built, shortly before the straitjacket was taken.