Police investigate disappearance of cancer patient's jewellery at Wigan hospital

A family have been left devastated after their late mother’s jewellery disappeared while she lay dying in hospital.
Pictures taken of the jewellery before Maureen was admitted to hospitalPictures taken of the jewellery before Maureen was admitted to hospital
Pictures taken of the jewellery before Maureen was admitted to hospital

A family have been left devastated after their late mother’s jewellery disappeared while she lay dying in hospital.

Maureen Gingell, from Whelley, was treated briefly at Wigan Infirmary in the final days of her battle with stage four lung cancer. She was admitted on October 11 and died on October 16.

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During her short stay on the Winstanley Ward, hospital staff made the decision to remove several items of jewellery she was wearing, such as rings and a necklace (pictured), because her body was retaining water and swelling.

The valuables, which were going to be left to family members in Maureen’s will, were taken away for safe-keeping, and her family were told they had been placed in a safe.

But following her death, the jewellery could not be located when Maureen’s personal items were returned to her family, prompting her son Jimmy to report the incident to the police.

“She had three rings, and a necklace. She’d already photographed them, because she knew she was dying, and was going to give them on to her grandchildren,” Jimmy said.

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“I reported an incident of theft with the police. They said they would investigate it.

“When I called 101 to see how they were getting on, they told me the case had been closed!

“I told them it was imperative that they get the CCTV from the hospital because that would show my mum wearing the rings.”

Maureen’s daughter Sharon said: “My mum would never willingly have given her rings to anybody unless she was told they would be put in a safe. They were taken off while she was asleep.

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“I asked the nurses where my mum’s jewellery was, and they told me that, because of fluid retention, they’d been taken off and put in a safe. I didn’t think anything of

it.

“On the day after she died, I phoned the hospital and said we needed to collect my mum’s belongings. I asked where was her jewellery, and they said that it would have been put in a safe but, at that moment, they couldn’t find them. I don’t know how many safes they have on a ward so I just thought ‘fair enough, they must have put them somewhere else, it’s busy, it’s a Covid ward’.

“But since then, when ringing up, it’s so hard. They have a protocol when they take jewellery off and it would have to be logged in a book. They can’t find a copy of anything.

“That jewellery is supposed to go to her grandchildren, and we can’t because it’s missing. That’s wrong.

“We’re being told lots and lots of different things.”

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WWL did not wish to comment on the matter due to police involvement.

Greater Manchester Police was contacted by the Wigan Observer but had not issued a comment by the time of publication.

A spokesperson for Greater Manchester Police said: “Officers received a report of a theft from an elderly woman just after 5pm on 30 October.

“It is believed jewellery was taken at some point between 11 October and 15 October.

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“Officers have carried out CCTV enquiries and anyone with information can call 101.”

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