Community tracks down Northampton woman's stolen furniture after thieves raid garden overnight

The Spotted Duston community came together to help a Northampton woman find her stolen furniture.

Sarah Peck, from Duston, woke up today (May 22) to find her set of rattan chairs and a glass table had been pinched in the night as she slept.

Distraught, she took to Facebook to ask her local community for help. But within hours, her friends and neighbours had tracked down her stolen furniture and returned them to her backyard.

Sarah said: "It was just so frightening to think someone had been in my garden and I hadn't heard them. I was just so angry and upset."

The stolen furniture was found along with this electric handcart, which Sarah believes was used to steal it.

She reported the theft to the Spotted Duston Facebook group at 6.49am today. But when asked for help, the community on Spotted Duston turned to sleuthing.

One neighbour reported: "I saw a man walking through [the area] at 7am with furniture like this. He had black shorts on and a beige vest. He looked in his 50s."

Then, an hour later, another neighbour posted: "I think I just saw your furniture dumped outside the flats by the mini-roundabout of Newton Road and Cotswold Avenue along with a cart." Two more residents reported they had seen the same thing.

Then, within an hour, the owner shared the good news she had been reunited with her table and chairs. They had been dumped along with an electric handcart. Two of the glass panes on the table had also been smashed.

The entire furniture set was stolen overnight from Sarah's home.

Sarah said: "I just want to say a huge thank you to everyone who has helped. So many more people messaged me to say they had seen something. It's restored my faith in the community.

"I just don't get why they would do this just to ditch it."

Anyone with information is asked to contact Northamptonshire Police on 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111.