Cash stolen from Poole girl's birthday cards (From Bournemouth Echo)
When news happens text pix and video to 80360. Start your message with BE then leave a space.
Don't miss our new Youth Sport supplement every Thursday inside your Echo 
Daily Echo on FacebookAll of today's content from across the site, all in one place at bournemouthecho.co.uk/today
Cash stolen from Poole girl's birthday cards
11:00pm Wednesday 25th November 2009 in
A little girl from Poole was left heartbroken on her eleventh birthday after money was stolen from three greetings cards.
It was an unlucky Friday 13 for Lucy Patrick who missed out on £45 sent from her aunts and grandmother when distinctive pink envelopes arrived already opened.
Mum, Debbie, a health club receptionist, said her daughter’s memory of her eleventh birthday had been tarnished by the thefts.
“People have asked Lucy if she had a nice birthday and she’s said, ‘Yes, but my birthday money was stolen’. She was so disappointed. No child deserves that,” said Debbie.
Lucy had been saving for a Me to You rug, and wanted an iTunes voucher to buy songs to play on her parents’ present – a brand new iPod.
Now fuming dad, Bill, is desperate to warn other families not to send cash over the festive period in a bid to avoid an unhappy Christmas.
“I’m just trying to warn people not to send cash in Christmas cards, or even vouchers. It’s much safer to send a cheque,” said Bill, a maintenance manager.
Two of Lucy’s three empty cards arrived the day before her birthday. Twenty pounds was missing from a card sent from Rhyl in North Wales by her grandmother and £15 was missing from a card sent by an aunt from Manchester.
“I complained at the sorting office at Alder Hills. The man kept the envelopes and gave Lucy her cards. But she said she wasn’t supposed to see them until her birthday and turned away quickly,” said Debbie.
The next day an opened pink envelope sent by an aunt in Merseyside dropped onto the doormat but was missing a £10 note.
A Royal Mail spokesman said: “We are always sorry to learn of any problem with our services. We are making enquires and will contact the customer directly. We would always advise using our special delivery service when sending cash or items of monetary value as the service tracks items throughout their journey and offers insurance. ”
Comments(24)
Armywife
says...
7:27pm Wed 25 Nov 09
colin 50
says...
8:11pm Wed 25 Nov 09
bex1984
says...
8:15pm Wed 25 Nov 09
sea poole
says...
9:20pm Wed 25 Nov 09
Thne WHO do you trust?
Anyone...?
colin 50
says...
9:39pm Wed 25 Nov 09
kinc
says...
12:02am Thu 26 Nov 09
Found wallets, credit cards and money and purses in boxes always take it to the police station, cash handed in to managers. Don't tar everyone with the same brush.
If post is placed in a very busy post box it's easy to rip letters due to the opening chute at the bottom is always narrower than the top!
ben111
says...
8:19am Thu 26 Nov 09
Duckorange
says...
8:52am Thu 26 Nov 09
All they have to do is wait for a postman to die of rabies and – presto! – they've got their thief. Another successful detection for the government stats, and no time wasted on court appearances – everyone's a winner!
tangogran
says...
9:15am Thu 26 Nov 09
GB916
says...
9:20am Thu 26 Nov 09
Dibbles2
says...
9:55am Thu 26 Nov 09
kinc wrote:So what was the xcuse in May this year when it happened to my son on his birthday.
A lot of temps working at the moment! Found wallets, credit cards and money and purses in boxes always take it to the police station, cash handed in to managers. Don't tar everyone with the same brush. If post is placed in a very busy post box it's easy to rip letters due to the opening chute at the bottom is always narrower than the top!
Its strange that cards with cheques in dont get opened and yert cards with cash in do. I have had it happen many times and now my mum sends cheques after having our fingers burnt.
I personally think that some sort of scanning equipment or metal detector is being used to find out which cards have cash in.
Complained to Royal Mail and they didnt give a ****!!!!!!
sea
says...
10:56am Thu 26 Nov 09
if you send just a card dont seal it as it may be opened.
Depeche Dave
says...
11:02am Thu 26 Nov 09
Simples.
Grumpy Griff
says...
11:24am Thu 26 Nov 09
Depeche Dave wrote:Totally agree.
Dont put money in birthday cards. Simples.
Put in a cheque.
magicmonkey
says...
11:59am Thu 26 Nov 09
I complained, got my money back fairly quickly, and Royal Mail said that they got the culprit.
GB1980
says...
12:20pm Thu 26 Nov 09
When has it ever been a good idea to send cash through the post?
If the girl's relatives had sent her cheques or postal orders (do they still do those?) then her money either wouldn't have been lost and could be resent, or wouldn't have been stolen in the first place and fuming dad Bill wouldn't feel he has to reiterate the warning given by every company that accepts postal payments: "Do not send cash through the post".
mervskime
says...
12:40pm Thu 26 Nov 09
pliglet
says...
1:07pm Thu 26 Nov 09
Duckorange
says...
4:25pm Thu 26 Nov 09
charley farley west parley
says...
4:33pm Thu 26 Nov 09
yasinac
says...
4:38pm Thu 26 Nov 09
Armywife wrote:We had a Christmas card delivered in January of this year that was posted just before Christmas 2007. It was sent registered post with £30.00 cash in it. It was delivered sliced open along the top in clear plastic bag as described above and empty. When I complained to the Post Office they sent me 12 first class stamps as compensation, can't say the children were too excited with their 4 stamps each!! The item was signed for and had obviously been in the possession of the post office for 14 months for it still to be delivered and signed for, yet they refused to accept responsibility. So don't hold out any hope for any positive response.
My mum has just rung me about this story. Last month my mum sent me a card from Poole with £20 in it and when i received the card today it had been ripped open and the money gone. Royal Mail had put the ripped envelope and card in a clear plastic wallet and had printed on the front that they sent sincere apologies that the enclosed item had been damaged. I have tried today to speak to someone in the customer service centre on the number supplied but cannot get past the many options on the voice message system they have :( .
X Old Bill
says...
4:49pm Thu 26 Nov 09
More than 1,600 Royal Mail staff have been caught stealing from the post in the last five years.
It means that on average one Post Office employee is sacked for theft for every working day of the year.
Last year saw a rise of 26 per cent in the number of staff prosecuted or cautioned for theft. In 2008/09, a total of 276 employees were prosecuted for stealing, and another ten were cautioned, compared with 226 in 2007/8.
lettgang
says...
9:34pm Thu 26 Nov 09
More News stories
- Driver lucky to be alive after crash on the A338
- Allotment holders present responses to Christchurch council
- North Bournemouth residents urged to join new panel
- Bournemouth pilot takes to the skies over Imperial War Museum
- Poole dad's drink-drive record "appalling"
- New Christchurch store to create 200 jobs
- 'Streets of Bournemouth' winners collect prizes
- Get your best picture of Dorset scenery into our book
- Barfleur service not returning this summer
- Figures show drop in number of Dorset house fires
BIRTHDAY MISERY: Lucy Patrick, 11, who found that three of her birthday cards had been opened and money removed before they were delivered to her Canford Heath home
Most popular
Local Information
Enter your postcode, town or place name
Hokum says...
7:15pm Wed 25 Nov 09