Stone thieves target Wigan jazz festival boss

Ian Darrington, who is in charge of Wigan International Jazz Festival, was stunned to find on Monday morning that some time the previous night 14 coping stones - dating back 150 years to Victorian times - had been removed from the wall of his Wigan Lane home.

The brazen raid comes after thieves struck under cover of darkness in October and got away with a haul of York stone flags worth more than £750 from the back garden.

He expressed his shock and frustration at being the victim of a crime again and urged residents in Swinley to be vigilant if they have valuable or old features in or around their properties.

Mr Darrington, who lives with his wife Monica, said: “These stones they’ve taken are from 1865.

“They were along the wall on New Lodge.

“It’s all Victorian stuff they are nicking so residents in Swinley need to be very alert to the fact this is happening.

“We didn’t hearing anything, we were asleep.

“We just came down in the morning and found a complete mess on the floor.

“I’ve been asking around about what happened but nobody’s come up with anything so far.

“I’ll keep asking though.

“They wouldn’t have made a lot of noise.

“They would just have to hit the stones with a hammer, lift them off and put them straight in a van.

“There’s absolutely nothing you can do.

“In this case the stones aren’t actually that valuable but it’s just so frustrating and disappointing.

“It’s also a massive inconvenience.

“I just want to suggest to residents who have anything valuable in their gardens that they need to be careful.”

Mr Darrington said the police have been unable to catch the offenders responsible for the October theft, with investigations struggling due to a lack of CCTV cameras providing footage of the area.

He said he has also rung Greater Manchester Police to report the latest crime.

The theft of 13 or 14 stone flags from Mr Darrington’s home was not the only time Swinley was targeted last autumn, with expensive paving stones also disappearing from a stretch of pavement on Brock Mill Lane in Marylebone, close to its junction with Wigan Lane and near Woodfield Primary School.

There is a valuable market for second hand historical stoneware.

Some of it might be offered honestly from recently demolished premises or walls.

But police have warned that there is also a danger that people doorstepped by strangers offering such materials might also have obtained them illicitly.

There have been cases in the past in Wigan where workmen have duped pensioners into having valuable York stone flags and stone wall copings replaced by cheap concrete ones.

GMP confirmed the force was called shortly after 4pm on Monday January 14 to report of theft from a garden on Wigan Lane.

Officers found between 12 and 14 coping stones had gone, believing it happened some time between midnight and 6am.

Inquiries are ongoing and anyone who might have seen suspicious activity - including vans, trucks or lorries parked on Wigan Lane or thereabouts in the early hours of Monday this week to get in touch.

Anyone who is approached with an offer of second hand coping stones is equally asked to contact the authorities.

Those with information can either ring police on 101 or the freephone Crimestoppers charity line in confidence on 0800 555111.