Pensioner's photos stolen from Croydon pub as he drinks with long-lost friend

By jcharlton

By Jo Charlton

joanne.charlton@essnmedia.co.uk

A pensioner had a lifetime's-worth of photographs stolen after taking them to show a childhood friend.

Howard Aylett had gone to the George pub, in Croydon, to meet Tony Barber, who he had not seen for 23 years.

But the rucksack holding the precious photographs was stolen from the back of his chair before he had a chance to show them to his pal.

Mr Aylett said: "The chap probably thought it was a laptop and the awful thing is he could be so frustrated he trashes the whole thing."

In fact the bag contained photographs of Mr Aylett and Mr Barber at Sydenham Road School and Tavistock Secondary.

The photos also spanned 73-year-old Mr Aylett's whole life. There were shots from when he returned home from the services, of his family and pictures from a school reunion two decades ago.

He said: "They had no monetary value but to me it's beyond value. They represent different episodes in my life, which as you get older you only have as great memories.

"I have no way of replacing most of them."

As soon as Mr Aylett realised the bag had been stolen, at around 1.30pm last Thursday (June 25), he notified staff who searched the toilets.

CCTV footage in the pub revealed a man had been loitering as the two men ate their lunch. In one swift movement he then grabbed the bag and headed out onto George Street, turning right.

The pub manager searched a nearby alley but found nothing.

Mr Aylett, who now lives in Tatsfield, said: "I'm disappointed at the thief's selfish attitude. There we were enjoying each other's company after so many years, no threat to anybody – only for it to be spoilt by the mindless theft of the bag."

The bag was a sage green Marks & Spencer laptop bag.

Mr Aylett is hoping the thief may develop a conscience and return the bag, or someone else may have spotted it dumped.

He described the suspected thief man from the CCTV as white, slim and quite tall, wearing a blue T-shirt, black jacket and dark trousers.