Pair distraught over burglary

A couple have described their heartbreak at returning home from taking their granddaughter to school to find their home had been burgled.

Mr and Mrs Ted Banton were out for an hour from 7.45am.

When they returned to their home on Milner Street, Newark, the front door was ajar. The burglars had got in through the back door, which was locked.

“When we got inside there was mess everywhere,” said Mrs Valerie Banton.

A cupboard in the living room had been emptied and their bedroom ransacked.

Among the items stolen were three first world war campaign medals left to Mr Banton, 69, by a friend.

Also stolen were Mr Banton’s gold watch, gold cufflinks, and two £5 coins, one commemorating the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee and the other her Golden Jubilee.

Mr Banton, who was part of the ceremonial guard at Winston Churchill’s state funeral and worked at RHP, said: “I used to look after a gentleman who lived on Whitfield Street by the name of Walter Rouse, and the medals were his.

“He used to say to me that when the price of beer reached £1 he’d never set foot in a pub again and he didn’t.

“I used to take him round a crate of beer every Friday. He used to tell some great stories. He left me the medals before he died. I’m just gutted.

“It’s such a horrible feeling to know someone has been all through your stuff. Your privacy has gone.”

Mrs Banton, also 69, lost a 22ins gold chain that belonged to her mother, a gold crucifix bought for her by work colleagues when she retired from Lauren’s Patisseries in Newark. It was on an 18ins chain given to her by her husband when they married.

She lost a locket that had a photograph of her eldest granddaughter as a baby inside, her 3/4 carat solitaire diamond engagement ring, a sapphire diamond cluster ring, sapphire and diamond gold ring.

Also stolen were a five-diamond eternity ring, garnet cluster gold ring, Edwardian garnet round-stone ring, silver charm bracelet with a V for Valerie charm on it, a silver box chain with her birth sign of Virgo on it, horseshoe-shaped wedding earrings, a silver set of drop pendant earrings and necklace to match and a silver pendant with Whitby jet and earrings to match.

The couple, who have been married for 21 years, also lost £1,060 in £20 notes.

Mrs Banton said: “It’s so depressing. There have been a lot of tears.

“I keep waking up early with it preying on my mind.

“I suppose we were lucky that we weren’t in and didn’t get attacked but that’s the only positive I can take from it.

“Everything I lost has so much sentimental value attached to it. I’ve had the charm bracelet since I was 17.

“It’s such a horrible feeling to know someone was in your property.”

Anyone who saw anything suspicious in or around Milner Street on Monday of last week or knows the whereabouts of any of the stolen property or the identity of the burglars should call Newark CID on 101 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.