LONDON, March 30: Police in the south of England were on the look-out on Wednesday for a thief who leapt onto a nightclub stage and stole a magician’s black hat — and the rabbit inside it. Lynn Thomas, alias The Great Velcro, was mid-way through his show at the Komedia club in Brighton when the culprit — described as a “skinny” man in his late 20s — jumped onto the stage last Saturday and snatched the props.

Irate members of the 150-member audience gave chase, but the thief — who earlier had been heckling The Great Velcro — managed to flee with both hat and rabbit, known as Georgina.

Thomas, 71, quoted in the Daily Mirror newspaper, said Georgina was only the fourth rabbit he has worked with in his 20-odd years as a magician.

“I was in the middle of my act when I saw this shadow out the corner of my eye fumbling with my top hat,” he said. “Then someone from the audience came up to me and said ‘Was that man supposed to run off with your rabbit?’”—AFP