Family of murdered Wigan man set-up crowdfunder to replace his nephew’s stolen pro-racing bike
Wez Mitchell, Billy’s brother, and his partner, Stacey Naylor, from Platt Bridge, are trying to raise £6,000 to get their 12-year-old son, Bailey Mitchell, another bike after “four youths” were allegedly spotted taking it away it from the back of their caravan-tow at the Leisure Lake MX track in Preston, in the early hours of May 7.
They urgently want to replace it so that he can still compete in the competition at professional level on the weekend of May 14, as he will be unable to without one.


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Hide AdThe family were sleeping at the time of the theft while they were at one of the many competitions where Bailey competes at professional level around the UK, just like most weekends.
He has been racing since he was just six years old and his uncle Billy used to travel around the country to watch him race. The pair were very close.
Billy was killed in December 2018 by David Connors, who is now serving a life sentence for his murder.
Bailey struggled to come to terms with the loss of his uncle and since then he always competes as the number “601”, which was Billy’s date of birth, in his memory.


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Hide AdBailey’s grandmother, Sylvia Mitchell, who is the mother of Billy, said: “We’ve set-up a Just Giving page just to raise enough money to get another bike so that he can still compete next weekend.
"He can’t compete without a professional bike.
"We’re all struggling at the moment and it’s very expensive to replace.
"He’s absolutely heartbroken, it has Billy’s date of birth on it, his lucky number “601”.


"Those thieves stole more than just his bike, they’ve stolen his career.
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Hide Ad"After they took it, he entered a race they next day on his practice bike, which the brakes have gone on, beacuse he didn’t want to miss a race.
"He came first place in it.
“I think it was the adrenaline.”
The thieves were also spotted walking off with other children’s bikes from the racing park.