Ipswich: Four-year-old's Christmas money stolen in toy shop

Demelza Wilson and her husband, Danny, took their two young children to Ipswich to spend their Christmas money on December 27. The family was in Smyths Toys Superstore in Bury Road, and Darcey, six, and four-year-old Dougie had each chosen a toy. 

Four-year-old Dougie Wilson with his mother, Demelza, and sister, Darcey. Credit: Demelza Wilson (Image: Demelza Wilson)

When they were almost at the front of the queue, Mrs Wilson handed her children the cards containing their Christmas money, so they could pay for the toys themselves. Dougie’s contained £60. 

Although she and her husband were careful to watch their children, she took a moment to zip up her handbag. In that moment, Dougie’s money vanished. 

“We looked to the floor, but the money wasn’t anywhere to be seen,” said Mrs Wilson. 

“At this point, Dougie was crying, so I left my husband to pay for the toys and we notified a member of staff.” 

They were shown CCTV footage, and saw that the money had fallen from the card onto the floor. 

“A man who was there with a young girl swooped in, picked it up and walked away,” Mrs Wilson said. 

“I took my eyes off him for a split second, and it was gone.” 

Dougie had been looking forward to buying a Paw Patrol car with his own Christmas money. His parents still bought him the toy, but the incident has left him upset and shaken. Credit: Demelza Wilson (Image: Demelza Wilson)

Although Dougie left the shop with the Paw Patrol car he wanted, he was shaken by the incident. 

“He went to sleep crying that night, saying, I want my Christmas money back,” said Mrs Wilson. “He’s been asking, will they find the bad man who took my Christmas money?” 

However, she has been inundated with messages of goodwill from strangers, many of them offering to replace the money. 

“I would like to thank everybody for being so kind,” she said. “Their offers and acts of kindness are enough – it wasn’t about the money. 

“It shows that an awful situation happened, but there are far more good people out there than bad.” 

Mrs Wilson said the person who took Dougie’s money was approximately 5ft 10in. He was wearing a grey jacket and light green tracksuit bottoms with stripes down the sides. He wore a hat which had a bobble or a large circle on top, which looked to be orange or red in colour. 

The incident took place between 11.30am and noon. 

Anyone with any information is advised to contact Suffolk police quoting the crime reference number 37/81201/22