A disabled Nunhead pensioner left trapped indoors after his mobility scooter was stolen has a new set of wheels.
Seventy-year-old Patrick Cronin, from Nunhead, was in hospital when a thief nicked his newly-refurbished Pro Rider Road King scooter from the Barset Road Sheltered Living.
The News published an online article about his plight and a generous reader has now donated their old scooter to the retired digger driver.
The search for the thieves continues but, in the meantime, Patrick can finally enjoy a long-awaited pint at the Nag’s Head, Peckham, after eleven days stuck indoors.
Patrick, who is originally from County Cork, Ireland, said: “I can’t believe it. It’s a lovely scooter, it’s a beauty. I am so pleased… I’ll tell you what, I’ll get some stickers and put Southwark News all over it! I will!
Asked what he’ll do with his new-found freedom, he said: “I’m looking forward to a pint. I’m taking these antibiotics at the moment which finish on Thursday [and then] I can do what I want.”
The donor, an elderly woman from Rotherhithe, who wished to remain anonymous, said: “I know what it’s like to be stuck indoors and not be able to go out on your own and I just can’t bear the thought of him stuck indoors.
“My husband used to love going to the pub. He went down for the company, not the drink. He loved it.”
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Crooks pilfered the scooter while it was charging in the Barset Sheltered Housing courtyard as Patrick spent the evening at King’s College Hospital on Thursday, July 6.
By 6am, on Friday, July 7, it had mysteriously vanished from the communal garden – which is only accessible with a fob.
Police initially told this paper there were “no realistic lines of enquiry” and Patrick became frustrated by care staff who he said “couldn’t be bothered”.
Six days after the crime was committed, Patrick said staff still hadn’t reviewed the footage, despite there being several CCTV cameras pointed towards the crime scene.
Without the scooter, which Patrick recently spent £450 refurbishing, he couldn’t even go shopping or get a breath of fresh air.
Having moved to Peckham from Ireland in 1965, Patrick has “hundreds” of friends locally but can’t see them at his favourite haunt – the Nag’s Head – a fifteen-minute scoot away.
But after the News stepped in, Southwark Council said it would work with the police to review the CCTV footage.
Care staff said they’d spotted the thieves of the CCTV footage and it was now waiting for police to follow it up.
Cllr Dora Dixon-Fyle MBE, Cabinet Member for Community Safety, said: “Our on-site sheltered housing officer is in close contact with Mr Cronin to help with any additional support he may need.”
