Rightful owners of stolen Christmas presents found after public appeal

Police in Bristol say they have identified the intended recipients of a number of Christmas presents which were recovered from a suspected stolen car. It comes after they released images of the wrapped presents and labels.

The presents had been stolen from a car belonging to David Jones in the Longwell Green area of South Gloucestershire overnight 12-13 December.

They had been given to him, his partner and his two children by his two sisters Debbie Stevens and Sarah Crowley.

David said: “I was absolutely gutted when I found they’d been stolen from the car. I told my sister and my partner but I just couldn’t bring myself to tell the kids until it all came out yesterday.

“I was so taken aback when they were found – it’s just amazing and I’m grateful to everyone who’s helped get them back.”

Debbie said: “We couldn’t leave my them without any presents so we went out and bought more – some presents we bought again but we also bought different ones too.

“I couldn’t believe it when I was told but then we found the Facebook post. It’s such an amazing story and I’m so grateful they’ve been found.”

The presents were found in a car which was reported stolen from an address in the Redfield area of Bristol at 10.25am on 13 December.

Forty minutes are receiving the report, officers located the vehicle being driven in the Stokes Croft area. They stopped it and arrested a man and a woman on suspicion of theft of a motor vehicle. They remain on police bail while further enquiries are carried out.

Inspector Matt Boiles said: “We’re so pleased to be able to return these stolen Christmas presents.

“This is a great example of the power of our public appeals and the support we get from our communities.

“We hadn’t previously linked the presents recovered from the back of a car until we issued photos of the wrapping and labels yet within hours David and Sarah had contacted us after seeing the appeal on social media.”