‘Rotten devils’ took my walking stick at Collier Row shop – Leslie, 89
Leslie William Bone, 89, with his replacement walking stick. - Credit: Archant
An 89-year-old man was over the moon when the walking stick he has had for 25 years was returned to him after being stolen.
Leslie Bone’s stick was taken by a woman in her 20s, leaving him holding his shopping at Tesco Metro, Collier Row Lane, on New Year’s Eve.
But on Sunday, it appeared at the headquarters of the Collier Row Old Age Pensioners’ Club – of which Leslie is chairman – in North Romford Community Centre, Clockhouse Lane.
Leslie, of Avelon Road, Collier Row, said: “I think one of the members might have seen it and got it back.
“I haven’t had a chance to ask yet, I’m just glad to have my stick.”
He had been using a replacement since the incident, but was desperate for the return of the original because of its sentimental value.
He said: “It’s a wooden stick I got on my holiday and I stuck all my badges on it.”
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It was taken when a woman approached him and offered him a pound for a trolley which still contained his money – and his walking stick.
She then disappeared into the store with three men.
Leslie said: “They didn’t seem to have a need for the stick. I thought when they realised they would hand it into the store, but they didn’t. They are rotten devils.”
He described the woman as between 25 and 30.
“She said ‘I’ll take that trolley’ and walked off,” he explained. “I didn’t shout. I was dumbstruck.
“I had my shopping so I couldn’t run after them as I was on my own.”
