Heartbroken' veteran appeals for return of prized army service medals after callous burglary

Patrick Pearson returned to his home in Gazelle Close, Eaton Socon, after going to for a family meal at about 7.30pm on Sunday (25 November) to find a broken window on the ground floor.

The house had been ransacked, with more than £1000 worth of items stolen, including two engraved army service medals.

Patrick said: “I gave 27 years of my life to the army and in return I was able to see the world, meet all sorts of new people and serve my country with pride.

“These days my memory isn’t what it used to be and those medals used to help me to remember my years of service in the armed forces. To have those memories taken away from me has been heart-breaking.”

Among the items stolen were a high-value bottle of alcohol, electrical goods and an antique pair of cufflinks, thought to be more than 50 years old.

Patrick said: “My daughter has very kindly offered to replace my cufflinks, but I bought them overseas whilst on duty and I can’t remember where. So far I have managed to narrow it down to Trinidad, Australia, or somewhere in the Middle East.”

DC Neil Gibbs said: “The sentimental value of the stolen property far exceeds the cash value, so we hope that anyone who comes into contact with it will do the right thing and come forward to police.

“I would urge anyone who with information to contact the police immediately so we can get the stolen medals back to Patrick and bring those responsible to justice.”

Anyone with information is asked to call police on 101 quoting 35/47710/18 or report online at www.cambs.police.uk/report.

Alternatively, you can report anonymously by calling Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 or visit www.crimestoppers-uk.org