Grandad's fury after thieves steal £33,000 saved for son's grave during floods

05 November 2023 , 12:50

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Phil and Dawn's house was damaged by the floods (Image: Lee McLean / SWNS)

A grandad has been left "devastated" after £33,000 in cash he had been saving for his late son's headstone was stolen from his motorhome during floods.

Phil and Dawn Henderson hid three bags of money and jewellery under a bed in their motorhome as rising water from Storm Babet threatened their property. The married couple had been putting cash aside to buy a gravestone for their son Jay Henderson, 36, who sadly died last year from liver failure.

And when their frequently flooded bungalow, in Mexborough, South Yorkshire, looked set to be hit again on October 19, they moved their valuables to their mobile camper. But Phil, 68, believes thieves watched them make several trips to the van, which was parked ten yards from their property, before striking after midnight. And to add to his heartbreak, the couple's bungalow was then flooded the next day.

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The couple's son Jay Henderson died last year from liver failure (Carrieanne Henderson / SWNS)

Grandad's fury after thieves steal £33,000 saved for son's grave during floods

Jay's grave at St Peter's Church, Felkirk, South Hiendley (Phil Henderson / SWNS)

He said: "I lost my son last year, and then this has happened. It's absolutely devastating. You can't put into words how we feel and how we're going to move forward after this. They've hit the jackpot. They just robbed us. And we're flooded as well."

Phil and his wife Dawn, 65, who have run a fishery and campsite at their home address for 20 years, were previously "wiped out" by flooding in 2007, 2019 and 2022. After receiving a government warning to "prepare" for rising river levels on October 19, they moved their valuables into their Fiat Kon-Tiki motorhome on higher ground. Their life savings included £33,000 in cash along with gold jewellery and diamond rings, valued at around £7,000 in total, which they hid under one of the beds.

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At 11.45pm, CCTV footage from a neighbour's property showed two men riding down Phil and Dawn's lane on a motorbike, who then left around 11.55pm. A grey hatchback approached their property at 12.15am before leaving ten minutes later - which Phil suspects was carrying the thieves.

Two people on road to Phil Henderson's home in Mexborough on October 19 on a motorbike at around 11.45pm (SWNS)

When the couple checked on the motorhome at around 1.15am, they found all their precious valuables had vanished. Phil said: "We never had suspicions that there was anybody nearby. We were ten yards away from my front door, loading my motorhome.

"All the lights were on in the house. We'd been preparing all day, and I'd filled the motorhome with stuff - all our life savings - and put them under the bed. But we noticed that my awning had been moved, and got into the motorhome. My wife said, 'Check the money' and it had all gone.

"They'd lifted the bunk bed up but didn't find it there. They then pulled the cover off the front of the passenger seat, because that's where they put safes in motorhomes, but it wasn't there. Then they lifted up a bunk behind the driver's seat, and that's where it was - two handbags full of cash and another bag full of gold."

The area where Phil's items were stolen from (Lee McLean / SWNS)

Phil, who has been receiving treatment for bowel cancer and has a spinal injury, now faces being forced to continue working as a valve technician at a power station. He added: "Say your life is 12ft ruler, I'm down to ten inches. I've worked all my life, and I'd have liked to have gone away and enjoyed the bit that I've got left.

"But now, I'm just living in a motorhome. I'm retirement age, and I've got bowel cancer. I'm going to have to keep working, but to be honest with you, I'm not fit enough to go to work, I'm not well enough. But I have to go."

Ex-British champion motorbike racer Phil had spent the past year adding £25,000 to his wife's £8,000 in savings by selling caravans, vans, motorbikes and mopeds. He had planned to use at least £14,000 of the money to pay for a headstone for his son who passed away on August 30.

A hatchback car driving away in the early hours of October 20 (SWNS)

And though the pair had thought about putting the money in their bank, they feared walking through the centre of Doncaster with wads of cash. Phil said: "When Jay died, I said would put £14,000 away for that lad's headstone, and if it costs more than that, I would pay more.

"We had the grave dug at St Peter's Church, Felkirk, where me and his mum got married at, and the grave is dug three deep, so I and his mum can go in with him." Phil expressed his despair, saying: "I can't see a way forward. I can't rebuild the business because where we live, in the house, it's just gone. And I haven't got cash to do it."

A spokesperson from South Yorkshire Police said: "We were called to reports of a burglary on 20 October at 1.24am. It was reported that a large amount of cash and jewellery were stolen from a camper van. Officers have completed CCTV enquiries in the area and enquiries are ongoing."