Terminally man targeted by thieves given lifeline by Nottinghamshire family

A Nottinghamshire family who recently lost their grandad to cancer have given a lifeline to another terminally man - who had his mobility scooter stolen by thieves.

Derek Trigg, 70, was essentially left housebound after having his scooter taken outside his home in Newark three weeks ago. Neighbours on Fenton Close spotted the vehicle being loaded into a red hatchback car and then driving off.

The former merchant navy seaman has cancer and spoke out about his plight in a bid to try and get his scooter returned.

Rob Toal and his brother James from Stapleford decided to get in touch with Nottinghamshire Police after reading about the story. They had a scooter left by their grandfather, who was also an ex-serviceman named Derek.

Mr Trigg received his new scooter last week and says he’s over the moon.

"It feels really good to be able to get out and about again and I can't thank officers, Rob, James and their family enough for providing me with this scooter, which is a lifeline really,” he said.

"It was completely gutting to lose my old one and to have my independence taken away. Every day I'd be able to go to the shops, visit people and just go for a ride and a change of scenery, and without the scooter I was pretty much unable to leave the house.

"Having the scooter completely changed my life. When my wife, Tina, was alive, we used to go out for walks and having a scooter opened up all these opportunities for us again. She was completely blind towards the end of her life but I have fond memories of her holding onto the side of the buggy and plodding along beside me.

"She sadly passed away in January last year, but the scooter continued to enable me to do things and helped provide some comfort.

"I feel so humbled that people have rallied to help after this. It's incredibly comforting to know there are good people around, like Rob, and also the officers investigating, who have been such a reassurance that crimes such as these are taken seriously. "

Mr Toal said: "The more we read the information and the appeal, the more we felt that we just had to get in touch and see if we could help.

"Our grandad was also called Derek and he had served in the Royal Air Force, so when I saw the post on Nottinghamshire Police's Facebook page, I commented, tagged members of my family and also sent a direct message. His story really struck a chord for us.

"Derek himself called us about the scooter and it's been fantastic having the opportunity to talk him and to get to know him a little bit. It's quite surreal and almost a full circle moment that he now has our grandad's scooter, given the similarities between them. I definitely think they would have gotten along, particularly as both were servicemen.”

Officers from the Newark Neighbourhood team continue to carry out enquiries and appeal for information from anyone who saw anything suspicious in the area around the time the scooter was stolen, which was at 11.40pm on Monday 25th January.

Inspector Heather Sutton, District Commander for Newark and Sherwood, said: "This was such a cruel and heartless crime to commit against an elderly, vulnerable man and take away his lifeline and something he's able to enjoy as he battles a terminal illness. We will continue to carry out enquiries.”

Anyone with information is urged to call 101, quoting incident 699 of 25 January 2021. Alternatively, people can call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.