A disabled Nunhead pensioner is “trapped” in his home after somebody stole his mobility scooter.
Seventy-three-year-old Patrick Cronin was in hospital when a thief nicked his newly-refurbished Pro Rider Road King scooter from the Barset Road Sheltered Living.
Patrick, who can barely walk a few metres, longs to see friends for a pint at the Nags Head – but now spends days stuck in front of the TV.
He said care home staff “couldn’t be bothered” to check the security camera footage and his scooter could be anywhere now because of their inaction.
The retired digger driver, originally from County Cork, can’t even visit his late wife and son who are buried at Honor Oak Cemetery.
“I’m trapped. I can’t go nowhere. The sheltered housing staff haven’t dealt with it at all. They’re treating me like rubbish” he said.
“If they had done something straight away they might have some chance of getting the scooter back.”
Police initially told this paper there were “no realistic lines of enquiry”. But after the News stepped in, Southwark Council said it would work with the police to review the CCTV footage.
Dora Dixon Fyle, Cabinet Member for Community Safety, also said the council would help Patrick get emergency funding for a new scooter.
Neighbours had last seen the scooter charging outside at 7pm on Thursday, July 6, while Patrick was at King’s College Hospital.
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But by 6am on Friday, July 7, it had mysteriously vanished from the communal garden – which is only accessible with a fob.
Police arrived but reportedly told Patrick that care home staff would have to check the CCTV and report their findings back to the Met.
But 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.
His friend Carol Buttigieg, 70, said: “The scooter is his life. Now when I go out I’m worrying if he’s gonna be alright.
“We don’t think he’s gonna get that scooter back. They could have stripped it down and sold it as parts.”
Without the scooter, which Patrick recently spent £450 refurbishing, he can’t 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.
Cllr Dora Dixon-Fyle MBE, Cabinet Member for Community Safety, said: “Yesterday (Thursday, July 13) we received the information we needed from the police to look into this further and help them with their investigation.
“We will be reviewing the CCTV footage for the relevant section for the police to sign out and will help Mr Cronin apply for emergency funding to buy a new scooter.
“Our on-site sheltered housing officer is in close contact with Mr Cronin to help with any additional support he may need.”
