Thousands of stolen toilet rolls, recovered by police during a raid in Accrington, have been donated to a local hospice.
Officers donated 4,032 of the unbranded toilet paper worth thousands of pounds to St Catherine’s Hospice, Lostock Hall, Preston, after they discovered it an industrial unit on Victoria Street, Accrington last November.
It had been stolen from a HGV wagon which was parked in a lay by in Staffordshire in the Autumn of 2009. The offender, Geoffrey Royal, 36, from Accrington, had slashed the side of the wagon to find around £7000 worth of toilet and kitchen rolls.
Royal had been stopped by PC David Todhunter on 7 October after he was seen acting suspiciously on an industrial estate in Accrington. A search of the van he was driving revealed over £24,000 of CDs which had been stolen from a HGV in Thames Valley on 6 October.
He was arrested and following a joint investigation by Lancashire Constabulary and Thames Valley Police, he later pleaded guilty to the theft of the CDs with the toilet roll thefts being taken into consideration. He appeared at Oxford Crown Court on 9 November where he was sentenced to three years imprisonment.
After the conviction, officers returned 552 rolls of Charmin toilet roll and 2256 rolls of Handy Towel kitchen roll but despite efforts to find the owner, have been left with thousands of pounds of unbranded toilet paper.
Inspector David Mangan from Accrington police said: "I am pleased that rather than destroy the toilet roll, we are putting it to a good cause. We have made every effort to reunite the property with the owner but are always keen to help charity where we can."
The Chief Executive of St Catherine’s Hospice Care, Stephen Greenhalgh added, "This is a great story with a great end. These toilet rolls will help both St Catherine’s and the East Lancashire Hospice to raise extra money to help provide end of life care to local people. It’s much better than the proceeds of crime going straight down the drain."
The toilet roll will be on sale in Hospice shops to raise money and will also be used in the Hospice itself. You can follow the Hospice and it’s events on Facebook.
