A village councillor is offering a £250 reward after a 10-year-old boy had his fishing gear stolen yesterday evening.
Manea’s Fenland District Councillor Charlie Marks has put up the cash to catch the culprits who snatched Noah Evans’ tackle bag containing his phone, and various tackle items including lures that were a birthday present, between 5.45pm and 6pm on Wednesday (19).
Noah was enjoying an afternoon and early evening spot of angling in the Delph River at Welches Dam in Manea, when the incident happened.
He had been dropped off by his mum Fiona for a couple of hours fishing after school off the bridge that spans the Delph River, which runs between the Old and the New Bedford Rivers.
She said: “He was keen to go because it was such a lovely afternoon, so I dropped him down there and arranged to pick him up a bit later. But when I went back he said he wanted a bit longer, and because it was such a nice evening and he had already caught rudd and roach and was really enjoying himself, so I said OK.
“But it wasn’t too much longer after that, that the incident happened. These lads in a grey car stopped and the passenger got out and grabbed his bag and then proceeded to laugh at him and call him names.”
Noah, who was left shaken up by the incident, said: “They came down and parked up and just sat watching me for about five minutes, then they sped off but then they just turned round and came back.
“The passenger got out and grabbed my bag and then called me a ‘p---k, before getting back in the car and speeding off again.”
Noah’s phone was in the bag so he was unable to contact his mum and tell her what had happened until she returned to collect him.
“I am just so angry. We have contacted the police and I have put an appeal out on Facebook. People said they witnessed the car ‘speeding’ through the village and I have also been offered CCTV footage to give to the police,” said Fiona.
She said the car was a grey Ford Puma with the reg number starting WT21 – Fiona has the full number registration and will be forwarding it to police.
She said: “People have offered Noah fishing tackle, which is very kind, but it’s not the same as he was very proud of the rigs he had made, and there was also the lures he had for his birthday in the bag along with his phone.
“It is really sad that a little boy enjoying a quiet fish had this happen to him. The whole village is up in arms. The police are also aware, although we are waiting to talk to them in more detail about what happened.
“We are really grateful to Charlie for putting up the reward, hopefully it helps catch them.”
Charlie wrote on Facebook: “This is an absolute disgrace this has happened but even worse to someone so young.
“So with that in mind as the local district councillor, I will put up a £250 reward for any information leading to the successful prosecution of the offenders and the return of all items stolen.
“Please personal message me with any relevant information, as these thugs should not get away with this.”
A police spokesperson said: “We were called at about 7.15pm yesterday evening (19 June) with reports of a theft at Purls Bridge in Manea. A crime has been raised for theft.”
