Devastated widow's £10,000 reward to help find thief who stole treasured jewellery in Northamptonshire village break-in

A devastated widow is offering a £10,000 reward to help find who stole treasured jewellery during a break-in in a Northamptonshire village nearly two years ago.

Repeated appeals by Northamptonshire Police have so far failed to find who took the woman's wedding band, family jewellery and designer watches.

Tragically, her husband died suddenly just a few months later and the loss of most of the jewellery he gave his wife on special occasions made her grief even harder to bear.

Now, following a recent high-profile re-appeal on the BBC’s Crimewatch Live using CCTV footage from the scene, detectives are following up a number of new leads and publicising the widow’s decision to offer a hefty reward for information leading to a conviction.

The woman, who wants to remain anonymous, said: “Since my husband’s death, the loss of items he had bought me, or that we’d planned to hand down to our children, compounds my loss.

“The memories each piece represented, like a charm bracelet my husband would add pieces to each year, or the eternity ring he bought me when our son was born, were priceless to me.

“The burglar also took my husband’s watches and his late father’s watch, along with my grandmother’s watch and a pair of her diamond earrings, which we would have left to our sons and daughters. These rare pieces cannot be replaced, nor can you replace memories.

“These pieces had no sentimental value to the thief, he’d have only seen the worth of the metal and stones. He’ll never understand the value of these pieces to our family, what they meant to us and the occasions and relationships they represented.

“This burglary really affected both my husband and me, causing us to leave our house for some time. I would do anything to solve the mystery of who this man is, as my husband died without ever knowing who it was.”

Items stolen during the burglary, near Thrapston in January 2019, also included an 18-carat rose gold and diamond bracelet, which was the last Christmas present the victim’s husband bought her before he died.

A Faberge birdcage diamond platinum necklace and earrings were his final birthday gift to her.

Investigating officer, Detective Sergeant Karl Curtis, added: “Following our re-appeal on Crimewatch Live we received and are following up on a number of pieces of information from across the country.

“Frustratingly, the suspect has still not been identified. So we are re-sharing the CCTV images and video as I have no doubt that someone out there will know who this man is.

“If you didn’t see Crimewatch, or our previous appeals on this case, please take a look and if you recognise this man or anything strikes you as familiar, please call us as soon as possible.

“The victim in this case has been left devastated by the death of her husband, with her grief compounded by her home being ransacked earlier in the same year by this person. Please help us to get justice for her.”

■ Anyone who recognises the man in the footage or who has information about the burglary is asked to call Northamptonshire Police on 101 regarding incident number 19000007971.