Cancer patient stranded by theft

A cancer patient who relies on his car to attend hospital appointments and to look after his 91-year-old mother has been left stranded after it was stolen and crashed into a wall.

Mr Michael Dawson, 70, of Newark, parked the Citroen car outside his mother’s home in the town on Thursday.

“I went there like I do every morning,” he said.

“My mother can’t get out of the house — she broke her back in three or four places years ago and she is not in the best of health — and I fetch her shopping for her every morning.”

Mr Dawson, who is undergoing treatment for prostate cancer, said he left his keys in the ignition as he was only in the house for a few minutes.

“I made my shopping list and when I came back out the car was locked up and the keys were gone,” he said.

Mr Dawson went to a nearby garage, Lawson’s Test Centre on Bowbridge Road, to see if they could de-mobilise his car.

“That is when I had a phone call from the police to say they had found my car and it had been run through a brick wall on Lindsey Avenue,” he said.

“I can’t believe the timing — I was only in the house for four minutes.

“They must have been watching me when I went to the garage and stole the car.”

'I rely on my car to get me to appointments'

Mr Dawson, who said his car has been written-off by insurers, has to travel to King’s Mill Hospital, Sutton-in-Ashfield, every three months for an injection as part of his cancer treatment.

“They think it is spreading and that is worrying me at the moment,” he said.

“I rely on my car to get me to appointments at the hospital and the doctor’s surgery.”

Mr Dawson said he also looked after his wife, Mrs June Dawson, 68, who has a shoulder injury.

“I help her with washing her hair and jobs like washing up,” he said.

Mr Dawson, who is retired, bought the Citroen 3½ years ago.

“It was ideal for what I wanted,” he said. “I rely on my car.

“Without it, I have to get the bus to King’s Mill, which means catching a bus to the bus station in Newark, one to Mansfield and another to King’s Mill, which takes three hours.”

Pc Andy Garner, of Nottinghamshire Police, said two men were seen fleeing from the vehicle.

Anyone who has information about the incident should contact Nottinghamshire Police on 101, quoting incident 209 of February 8, 2018, or Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111.