Roofing company comes to aid of man, 83, who had £300 stolen
A roofing company has come to the aid of an 83-year-old customer who had £300 stolen in a distraction theft.
George Davies was approached by a man and woman in Bloxwich town centre when cash went missing from his bag.
He was brought home in a police car where workmen from PRG Roofing, who were fixing his house, were dismayed at what had happened.
In response they decided to have a whip round for Mr Davies and raised £350 for him.
The former blacksmith, from Bloxwich, said: "I think they were very nice people for coming to my aid. I felt terrible about what happened.
"I had just withdrawn the cash from my bank account, to spend on shopping and pocket money for my grandchildren, but ended up losing £300."
Mr Davies said he had withdrawn the money from Lloyds Bank, on High Street, several weeks ago, and bought a cup of tea from a cafe, before he rested by a litter bin.
He says a woman then approached him and asked him about some "brochures", before a man appeared to his left, which made him look at him.
When he turned around, the woman had gone while the cash, which was in an envelope in his black bag, had disappeared.
'Horrendous'
He said: "As I looked at him, she must have picked it up and gone."
Gemma Gwilt, 39, from Bloxwich, who is an office worker at PRG Roofing, said: "We were working on George's roof, he got quite chatty with the lads. He said he doesn't do much in the day so his highlight was watching the lads work.
"They built up a bit of a rapport with him. The one day he went out in a taxi and he hadn't come back for ages, our lads were worried and looking for him.
"A police car brought him home. They were like 'are you alright George, what has happened?'
"He was telling our lads what happened. Our site manager, Steve Smith, decided between themselves to have a whip round to see if they could get back his money he had lost.
"I think we raised £350 which was more than what he had stolen.
"It was horrendous what happened to him. To think that people, especially with what we have gone through, with Covid at the moment, for someone to do that to an old man, it is horrendous.
"But it was heart-warming to hear that our lads could do something like that because they have had a tough year."
West Midlands Police was approached for comment.
