Cheltenham grandmother speaks of 'lifeline' car theft ordeal
A DISABLED grandmother from Cheltenham has spoken of her shock at being targeted by car thieves.
Bonnie Toner, of Kempton Grove, Benhall, woke to find her white Kia Pride LX had been stolen from her driveway.
-
Panic: Bonnie Toner's car was stolen from her drive
The 59-year-old, who suffers from muscle pain disorder Fibromyalgia among other ailments, was struck with panic because the car represents a lifeline – enabling her to get to vital medical appointments.
She was relieved when police recovered the car from nearby Monks Croft, but says the damage caused by the thieves has had a lasting effect.
Business Cards From Only £10.95 Delivered www.myprint-247.co.uk
View detailsOur heavyweight cards have FREE UV silk coating, FREE next day delivery & VAT included. Choose from 1000's of pre-designed templates or upload your own artwork. Orders dispatched within 24hrs.
Terms: Visit our site for more products: Business Cards, Compliment Slips, Letterheads, Leaflets, Postcards, Posters & much more. All items are free next day delivery. www.myprint-247.co.uk
Contact: 01858 468192
Valid until: Friday, May 31 2013
"The whole incident has been a terrible ordeal," said Ms Toner, a grandmother of three.
"I have been suffering with a stress-related disorder for almost five years. I also have ear and throat pain from two failed ear operations, as well as Fibromyalgia.
"My car is a lifeline to get to my medical appointments and it is also the only way I can get to see my family. So when I saw it had been stolen it immediately put me in a panic. I just can't do without it."
The vehicle was stolen from outside Mrs Toner's home in the early hours of January 13.
Later that day, police contacted her to say that it had been dumped in Monks Croft.
However, she has since been told it will cost £600 to repair damage caused to the locks and bodywork.
Mrs Toner wants to raise awareness of the misery caused by criminals.
She added: "I want to let people know about the devastation caused by these thieves.
"They have no right to steal other people's property and when they are doing it they probably have no idea about the long-term consequences of their actions."
Police said they were yet to make any arrests in connection with the crime.
Anyone with information about who was responsible for the theft can contact officers on 101, quoting incident 118 of January 13.
5 Comments
by tishwash
Monday, January 21 2013, 7:24PM
“I really fail to understand why people down vote your views...... nothing wrong with the views”
by TimMessanger
Monday, January 21 2013, 5:13PM
“They will just get a slap on the wrists IF they are caught, this sort of scum aught to be out with shovels clearing the snow from the city and town pavements and the elderly's paths for 10 hours a day. I suspect they have stopped all the community payback stuff as it's either too cold for them or they might fall over and hurt themselves arr didums!”
by spindles12
Monday, January 21 2013, 2:42PM
“spindles12 - given that your car was apparently left covered in DNA from the crims, was anybody ever identified / arrested / charged etc. with the theft??? Or was it many years ago, before DNA profiling came into use?"
Well, what do you think? This happened probably ten years ago and we never heard any more from the police except to say that it wasn't possible to trace whoever had taken it blah blah so that was that.
As for the traffic cone through the windscreen, it was local youthful drunks on their way home from a nearby pub. When I first reported it to the police they didn't seem very interested, just told me to make a claim on my insurance which I suppose is understandable as I don't know who did it, I just found the smashed windscreen in the morning. The cone had bounced off the bonnet and knocked a dent in my husband's car as well. I got the windscreen fixed eventually but even though it wasn't my fault it still put the insurance premium up.
On other occasion, before that time, I saw and heard some youths messing about outside and one of them was pushed through the hedge (I hope it hurt as it's made up of evergreen with a hint of spikes) They pushed over a stone sundial and damaged it and I called the police and they didn't seem to want to know but a couple of days later they got back in touch and were much more keen to speak to me because apparently the youths had left a trail of destruction all along the road. They were caught and I eventually got a bit of compensation for damage to the hedge and sun dial so that was a slightly better outcome.”
by Matt1006
Monday, January 21 2013, 10:41AM
“She is lucky (perhaps the wrong word) that the car has been recovered, and "only" with £600 of damage. But there's then the dilemma of claiming on the insurance to cover the repairs, but then facing higher premiums in coming years (depending on the terms of the insurance). And the knowledge that if you keep the car, it has previously been stolen. Not a nice feeling.
Just another victim of the scum that infest the population, I'm afraid. Seems she is perhaps more reliant on her car than others might be, but this is of no concern to the filth that stole it.
spindles12 - given that your car was apparently left covered in DNA from the crims, was anybody ever identified / arrested / charged etc. with the theft??? Or was it many years ago, before DNA profiling came into use?”
by spindles12
Monday, January 21 2013, 9:44AM
“I had my Astra GTE stolen several years ago. The silly part was I had been on holiday for two weeks and it was on the drive the whole of the time I was away and also the night I got back but it had gone by the following morning. The police discovered it dumped on the side of the main road into Oxford but it was believed that it had been used to do "doughnuts" in Oxford city centre before being dumped. The police took a part of the engine to stop it being stolen again and my husband and I had to drive all the way into the centre of Oxford to collect it. I wasn't at all happy about driving the car as the steering column was loose where it had been hot wired etc. The dashboard and steering wheel were covered in blood where they'd cut themselves while they were doing it (oh dear) so he very carefully drove it, with police permission, all the way back to Gloucester while I followed behind. The lock had been knocked out and that was repaired along with the steering column and other damage. Even though I gave it a thorough cleaning I never felt happy about driving it and so it was sold and a less attractive to steal car was bought.
Another incident I had with another car was that some drunks threw a traffic cone into the garden which broke the windscreen which I had to have replaced. Unfortunately the new windscreen was damaged in transit so I had to wait for another one which meant my car was off the road for two weeks which I found very hard so I completely understand how the lady feels.”