England’s Glen Johnson: toilet seat theft despite millions in salary

Sometimes a person does things that are inexplicable afterwards. Former England international Glen Johnson stole a toilet seat.

“Everything happens for a reason” reads the tattoo worn by former England international Glen Johnson. The same Glen Johnson also had the saying on his left arm in January 2007 when he was caught stealing bathroom accessories from a Dartford hardware store. The booty consisted of a toilet seat.

At that time Johnson was under contract at the age of 22 at FC Portsmouth, which was still very ambitious at the time, and earned the equivalent of around 2.3 million euros per year.

“We all recognized Johnson,” said one employee at the hardware store, “no one could believe that a guy like him, with all his money, would be stupid enough to steal a toilet seat.” And that’s why not only the hardware store employee asked himself the crucial question of why, which only Johnson himself could answer – after all, everything happens for a reason.

Glen Johnson: ‘Where’s the hidden camera?’

And Johnson answered the 2009 question of all questions Daily Mail – albeit hesitantly. He told his version of the story. “I was there with a buddy who wanted to set up his bathroom. He wanted to buy a toilet kit that puts everything in one place,” Johnson said. “But we took out the toilet seat with the lid and swapped it out because the other lid closed more slowly so his kids’ fingers couldn’t get caught,” he added. What he didn’t know at the time was that the added lid was £2.35 more expensive than the original lid.

The 74-year-old shop detective at the hardware store drew her attention to this and announced that he would now call the police. “We laughed out loud and thought, ‘Where’s the hidden camera?’ But he was like, ‘This is getting serious,'” Johnson recalled.

The police showed up and, according to Johnson, also found the story amusing at first, but finally announced that there were now two options for the thieves duo to proceed: either there would be a court hearing, or Johnson and his friend would have to face a fine of pay 70 pounds. “We paid, but of course that made it look like we were guilty,” Johnson said. “Which thief goes through the checkout and then pays the fine afterwards? If I were a thief, I would grab the things and just run away,” was the analysis, with which Johnson did not collect many plus points in public.

“Everything happens for a reason”: Glen Johnson became a shoplifter because he didn’t want his friend’s children to get their fingers caught.