Gary Pendleton was a teenage lad who brought a blouse back to Sylvia's Separates which his mother had supposedly bought the day before, asking for a cash refund as it didn't fit. He had no receipt and no idea how much the blouse had cost and Elsie Howard quickly realised that he had stolen it from his mum and was trying to make money on the return. She insisted Mrs Pendleton herself came back in. Gary claimed that he'd get a good hiding if he didn't bring the money home but Elsie remembered the small red-headed lady and pointed out that he was already considerably bigger than her and well able to take care of himself. After he had departed, Elsie told sales assistant Gail Potter that the lad's father was in and out of Strangeways Jail and his four siblings were as crooked as their dad.