A pub owner has labelled a thief who took a charity box raising money for Ukrainian people "the very worst of humanity". The box, along with a hamper allocated for a raffle to raise money for the city hospital, was stolen from behind the bar at It's Inn The Bank in Netherfield.
The theft is thought to have occurred at around 2pm on Tuesday, March 15 at the venue in Victoria Road. Owner David Murphy, 55, was on his afternoon off with his wife, who also owns the pub, when he was contacted by a member of staff. They told him a man had walked into the shop claiming to know him from the pub trade in the 1990s but, after being told Mr Murphy wasn't available to talk to him, he didn't leave.
Read more: The Nottingham busker who has brightened up our city for 20 years
Instead, he ordered a drink and then asked for some ketchup for his sandwiches. "As soon as he asked for this he went behind the bar and took the box," Mr Murphy said. "Then he put it in his bag on the floor."
Mr Murphy was then notified by a member of his staff that the hamper had been taken. It wasn't until he and his wife arrived back at the pub that they realised the charity box had also been taken.
There is a cleaner at the pub who is set to drive to Ukraine on Friday, March 18 and deliver 14 bags of items to those who need it most. For those working in the pub, it makes the thefts even more frustrating, as that money was supposed to be used to help in their efforts to provide for the Ukrainian people.
Mr Murphy continued: "I couldn't believe it when I was told. It's disgusting. Our cleaner is driving over there, giving his time up to help other people, he's giving up two weeks of his life to do what he can. I can't imagine anybody going out to try and do this, it's pretty unbelievable. To them - it's just money. They don't think about anything else. They're the very worst of humanity."
Sergeant Rebecca O’Connor, of the Gedling neighbourhood policing team, said: “We are pursuing a number of lines of enquiry, including checking CCTV footage, to trace the man responsible for this despicable burglary.
“It’s very sad that someone would stoop so low as to steal cash donated to worthy causes and given by kind-hearted people to help others. This was a heartless and callous theft and we are determined to catch this offender as soon as possible and bring him to justice.
“To help us with our ongoing enquiries I would urge anyone with information about the burglary or the person responsible to please get in touch with the police as soon as possible.”
Anyone with any information, or who has any CCTV or dash-cam footage, is asked to call 101, quoting incident number 489 of 15 March 2022, or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
To read all the biggest and best stories first sign up to read our newsletters here .
