A man who stole firewood collected for sale by two children has met them to apologise for his actions.
The 61-year-old enlisted the help of his grandson in stealing two bags of kindling from outside a house in Bishopsbourne, near Canterbury, on Saturday 18 October.
CCTV footage of the scene showed the man driving away in a red Peugeot 407, which was later spotted by ANPR (automatic number plate recognition) cameras in Folkestone and tracked down to an address in Ash.
He voluntarily attended Canterbury police station on 18 November and admitted to stealing the wood, which was valued at £8.
“Following a discussion with the children’s parents, it was agreed that the man should make amends by meeting the family to apologise.
The children had collected, chopped and bagged the wood and planned to sell it for some pocket money. The man who took it clearly did not consider their feelings but has now accepted what he did was wrong. As well as apologising to the family, he also agreed to pay the children £20 each as a way of making amends for his actions.”
– SERGEANT MARTIN WILLIAMS
Source: ITV
