Bristol mum's plea to thieves to return precious baby photos
A distraught mother has been left with nothing but memories of her baby's first months after her camera was stolen during a Christmas meal in Bristol.
Tracy Medley was out for lunch with her colleagues at a restaurant in Welsh Back when her handbag was snatched from the back of her chair.
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The thieves got away with her bag, but more importantly her camera, which had six months of precious photos of her seven-month-old baby Alexandria.
The mum of two is desperate to get the camera's memory card back so she can make a Christmas present for her three-year-old daughter Isabelle – a collage of photos of her baby sister.
Mrs Medley, a 41-year-old financial training manager from Bridgeyate, said: "I am absolutely gutted. I had six months worth of photos on the camera, which unfortunately I hadn't downloaded.
"They are some of the earliest photos I have of my baby, and they change so much when they are young.
"If they were just holiday snaps of myself and my husband I wouldn't mind so much, but we have lost Alexandria's real milestones – the first time she lay in her cot, the first time she sat in her high chair and the first time she had proper food.
"All those key moments are lost to us forever because somebody stole my camera."
Mrs Medley was eating at the Bibas Lounge Bar and Restaurant on Wednesday when the theft happened.
It was the first time she had been out with her colleagues since going on maternity leave, and she only took her camera with her to show them her baby's photos. Her handbag – a 40th birthday present – was on the back of her chair underneath a long coat when it was stolen just before 4pm.
Mrs Medley said: "I was sat there the whole time apart from five minutes when I got up to speak to another colleague.
"There were two people, a man and a woman, sat on the table behind me.
"He bent down to tie his shoelace, and the next thing we saw was them running out of the restaurant with a jacket over his arm, probably covering my handbag."
Mrs Medley and her husband Andy are now appealing to the thieves to return their camera's memory card, and are offering a reward.
She said: "If I have to, I will pay them more than they would get for the camera in a pub. I don't care if I get the camera back, I just want the photos of my girls.
"Obviously there are people in a far worse situation than I am, but hopefully it will stop this happening to somebody else.
"It would just make my Christmas to get my photos back."
Costa Kkolos, owner of Bibas Lounge Bar and Restaurant, said staff had done all they could to help Mrs Medley. He said: "We are obviously very sorry for what happened.
"It was a very unfortunate incident where opportunist thieves took advantage of a busy afternoon to snatch a customer's handbag.
"They obviously had nerves of steel to do something like this in broad daylight.
"It is not nice for us and is not nice for the lady involved, and caused her a lot of distress.
"We are now helping the police with their inquiries and will do everything we can to help catch the culprits."
Claire Stanley, a spokeswoman for Avon and Somerset police, said they were investigating the theft.
She said: "We would urge women to be cautious of their surroundings and their property and we recommend that you always keep your bag close to you and in sight."
"Always keep hold of it and secure it by closing the zip or clasp."
6 Comments
by shut up, bristol
Wednesday, December 24 2008, 10:28AM
“get real nobody was killed or raped it was a few pictures yes it would be nice to have some to look back on in the coming years but hey like you have said tracy there are people worst of them you maybe your family and friends have pictures of your babys first few month ask them if they could let you have some prints because they must have taken some also
have a good xmas to you all”
by Tracy, Bristol
Wednesday, December 24 2008, 12:39AM
“Russ - you're right, I have learned a tough lesson. It was a job always on the "to do list" but one which I will now prioritise in future.
Alexandria - you too are right and I did comment that in the grand scheme of things, my distress no where near matches that of others eg our troops in Iraq and their families. But any parent will understand how precious early photos are. This man has stolen many other peoples property and he needs to be stopped. I'm not the only person who has lost personally valuable items. If he has any conscience at all, he will return those personal items to their owners, including me. He can do this anonymously via the police or the evening post . These items are of no use to him; he just wants cash/credit/bank cards. I hope he can find it in his heart to make some Bristol residents very happy this Christmas. Thanks to all who have offered me and the family their support and thanks too, to Bibas restaurant owner and staff, who have been great.”
by Alexandria, Patchway
Tuesday, December 23 2008, 7:43PM
“Well at least she didn't lose a live duck like poor Cathy Barry did. As they are both so traumatised why don't they get together, and have a sob on each other's shoulders, and then think about the poor starving people who won't even have a good Christmas, in other parts of the world, instead of feeling so bl**dy sorry for themselves.”
by Russ, Bristol
Tuesday, December 23 2008, 5:41PM
“Sorry if it seemed sanctimonious, it wasn't meant that way. I do feel very sorry that she lost her pictures, I was just trying to make the point that pictures must be downloaded and saved regularly.”
by Emily, brizzle
Tuesday, December 23 2008, 4:16PM
“russ, i've just read yr comment and i must admit it sounded rather sanctimonious! I should imagine that Tracey wishes she had downloaded all her photos regularly, hence being so distraught!”
by Russ, Bristol
Tuesday, December 23 2008, 3:53PM
“How tragic, and i hope they get their pictures back.
There is a lesson there, we must download pictures often. I have hundreds of digital pictures of my family taken over the years. I download them frequently, and store them in more than one place.”