Salesman Bob is not suited with publicity

Dec 10 2007 by Neil McKay, The Journal

A LOTTERY ticket proved unlucky for menswear salesman Bob Allison when he found himself unwittingly caught up in the John Darwin mystery.

Mr Allison, 62, who works for clothes store It Suits You on North Shields Royal Quays, happened to stop to buy the ticket at a shop in the village where Darwin’s father lives.

And to his horror his photograph was broadcast around the world as a “mystery man” who may or may not have been Darwin.

Mr Allison, who lives in Ushaw Moor, Durham, explained: “I was travelling in a friend’s car to Hartlepool for a night out with some former work colleagues last Tuesday afternoon.

“On the way there I stopped at Blackhall Rocks to buy a lottery ticket. I have never been in that shop before.”

Mr Allison noticed a photographer in the street, but had no idea why he was there.

He added: “I have not been following the John Darwin saga closely so I had no idea of where his father lived. I saw a photographer and assumed he was taking local scenes. I thought nothing about it until the next day when my phone never stopped.”

Mr Allison’s photo appeared in a newspaper and on a number of television news bulletins both at home and abroad.

He said: “People have been stopping me in the street, my phone is constantly ringing. Even taxi drivers have been calling out to me, calling me the mystery man.

“It has been quite embarrassing and stressful. I couldn’t believe it when I saw my picture in a newspaper and then was told by friends they had seen me on TV.

“It gave me the shock of my life.

“There may be a funny side to all this, but at the moment I don’t see it. When I saw the photo of John Darwin I thought I looked nothing like him.”