Shopkeeper 'placed in trance by hypnotist' during theft in north London - Crime - News - London Evening Standard (5. Dec. 2014)A “hypnotist thief” apparently put the owner of an upmarket off-licence in a trance before rifling through his trouser pockets and stealing the day’s takings. Friends today said Aftab Haider, 56, the owner of independent wine merchants Hops and Pops in Highgate, north London, was “stunned” by the theft of hundreds of pounds in cash.