Facebook friends help crime victim

Roytonians raise £200 for pensioner

GENEROUS Roytonians rallied round to help an elderly woman who was the target of pickpockets.

The woman was left distraught when her purse, containing £200 cash, was stolen at Royton Market last Thursday afternoon.

Staff at the The Bakehouse Cafe in Royton precinct comforted her for 20 minutes until her son arrived to take her home.

Mark Goodwin, a local piano dealer, was in the cafe at the time and, overhearing the situation, decided to do something to help.

He set up a collection for the woman on the I Love Royton Facebook page and within eight hours he had £190 in cash — topping it up with a tenner himself.

He said: “I thought I was in a perfect position to help victims of crime as I run the page, so I put a note up on the group page and wrote a card saying, ‘I am from a community group and we like to show that there are more good people in the world than bad’, and popped the cash inside the card.

One woman said: “I think it’s great for Royton — and what Mark did for this old lady was quite heroic.”

PC Adam Murphy reiterated his warnings over pickpockets after a recent increase in thefts.

He said that thieves are using distraction techniques — usually involving bumping into the victim and apologising excessively while another dips into a bag or coat pocket and a final person plans a quick exit route.

He added: “People are not always reporting these incidents to us because they feel silly it’s happened. The market is a confined space so it can be difficult to move away from people but we are just asking the public to be vigilant and report any incidents to us.”

The police are giving away small bells which can be attached to bags or purses, which jingle when they are disturbed. These can be collected at local PACT or surgery meetings.