• Sweden edition

'Mafia' ruined Swedish teens' shopping spree

Published: 3 Jun 09 08:07 CET | Double click on a word to get a translation
Online: http://www.thelocal.se/19838/20090603/

Two Swedish teenage girls who took a family safe to finance a day of shopping allege their plans were spoiled when they inadvertently handed the safe over to someone with ties to the mob.

The incident unfolded in late February when the two girls, aged 16- and 17-years-old, decided they wanted to travel from their hometown of Borås in western Sweden to Malmö, 285 kilometres to the south, reports the Borås Tidning (BT) newspaper.

In order to pay for the joyride and accompanying shopping spree, the girls stole a safe containing 10,000 kronor ($1,300) in cash which belonged to the father of the 16-year-old.

The girls then stuffed the safe in a bag and headed to Malmö where they met up with a male acquaintance of the 17-year-old who was supposed to help the girls crack open the safe.

But the acquaintance told the girls he lacked the right tools to open the safe, and instead had to hand it over to someone else.

According to the girls, they never saw the safe again and allege it ended up in the hands of the mafia.

The girls now stand charged with theft, with the younger girl claiming she stole her father’s safe only after being threatened by her friend.

The 17-year-old, on the other hand, alleges they both came up with the idea together.

David Landes (news@thelocal.se/+46 8 656 6513)

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08:00 June 3, 2009 by Plowbridge H. Broad
Congratulation TL for producing one of the poorest written pieces of journalism I have ever seen. The article contains several typos and lacks cohesion. You should be embarrassed for publishing this.
08:17 June 3, 2009 by Holecutter > The Howl From Hell
Whoever wrote this piece of garbage, should without a doubt be fired. If this is TL epitome of fine journalism, then they don,t deserve to stay in business. Furthermore, this strips out all credence from TL staff who change headings and criticize the posters here, when their English is not up to par.

In the future, this will be a constant reminder, that when in glass houses, don,t throw stones.
08:22 June 3, 2009 by bekililly
hmmm!!!!!!!!!!!! why not try and get the whole information's before publishing your article Mr,journalist. bring out the mafias and the boys who are involve not just shot stories about the poor girls.
10:20 June 3, 2009 by jimmyjames
Well, I do not see a big grammatical issue nor are the "typos" that big an issue. I have an issue with publishing teenage girl gossip as news. What, did someone decide that because these girls used the word "mafia" in their pathetic lie the lie becomes newsworthy ? Anyone with even an iota of news ( real life ) experiance knows that the MAFIA does not go around engaging in petty theft with teenage girls . Come on, we read the Local for Swedish news not school-yard gossip.
10:39 June 3, 2009 by soveraldrig
lighten up, people...

this appears to be the source mentioned in the article:

http://www.bt.se/nyheter/boras/flicka-stal-kassaskap-fran-sin-pappa(1355643).gm
12:35 June 3, 2009 by ragnar
Attacks on this piece are way over the top.
12:42 June 3, 2009 by Miss Kitten
Oh come now, people! TL has surely produced much poorer quality articles than this one. This was fairly well-written and mildly entertaining stupid criminal story. Claiming the Mafia stole the safe was a nice touch on their part.
13:21 June 3, 2009 by peropaco
We all know TL only intention is to increase its readership in order to gain more advertisers to its site; consequently why are you surprised by the cheap-ill written, minged high school articles they publish here. They crap they exude to its readers is geared to a middle of the road beer drinking and easily angered prone audience.
13:30 June 3, 2009 by Mzungu
More entertaining and written... :wink:

Plea over jellyfish crop circle (BBC News)

*real artisans*
13:45 June 3, 2009 by Sensiblenick
Up to £600,000 worth of Damage? WTF? There is absolutely no way that is possible.
13:54 June 3, 2009 by Holecutter > The Howl From He
You need frigging glasses mate, that or a WHITE STICK AND A GUIDE DOG

14:03 June 3, 2009 by Sensiblenick
I read an earlier version it would seem... you must have missed the correction at the bottom of the piece...

So... you were saying about that guide-dog... would you like a Lab or a golden retriever?
14:13 June 3, 2009 by Holecutter > The Howl From He
Thanks, but I'd prefer a Pit bull and a ball and chain.

14:23 June 3, 2009 by Sensiblenick
Ah yes: A popular choice with the hard-of-sight these days. And what model of stick would sir be requiring?
15:39 June 3, 2009 by David Landes
Jimmy James-

Thanks for your feedback. A second look at the piece did actually allow us to correct a couple of typos. If you think there are other stories we've missed that we should be covering instead, feel free to drop us a line at news@thelocal.se.

Best,

David Landes

The Local
20:09 June 3, 2009 by Brugge
This is what happens when you arn't allowed to spank your kids.
22:33 June 3, 2009 by DStrope
what a wonderful story!!!!!!! brought tears to my eyes
22:38 June 3, 2009 by Mzungu
...and so does a good curry!
02:47 June 5, 2009 by jimmyjames
Mr. Landes, I apologize for the overly serious tone of my opinion. I enjoy The Local very much, I think you guys do a very good job, and I respect you guys allowing us to critique your work...rather brave of your paper.

I'm afraid my humble opinion in the written form came across much more serious than intended.

Thank-you for The Local and I honestly did not intend any disrespect.

James Hudson (jimmyjames)
22:32 June 5, 2009 by jastrid
I registered in order to say, "This story is a hoot!" As kids, my niece and I would make up fantasy crime scenarios --usually about robbing banks. It was our own brand of a game called "cops and robbers." So these two girls, maybe a little light-headed, took the game too far (like 177 miles to Malmo). How did they get to Malmo, I wonder? Must have been a small safe. My guess is that they dropped it somewhere.
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