Presents stolen from South Gloucestershire home returned to righful owner after police appeal

The family came forward after Avon and Somerset Police released an appeal to track down the rightful owners Credit: Avon and Somerset Police

Christmas presents stolen from a home in South Gloucestershire have been returned to their rightful owner.

In a Facebook post, Avon and Somerset Police released images of the wrapped gifts and their labels on Tuesday 19 December.

The presents had been found in a car, which was reported stolen from an address in the Redfield area of Bristol on the morning of 13 December.

Forty minutes after receiving the report, officers located the vehicle being driven in the Stokes Croft area of the city.

They stopped it, retrieved the gifts and arrested a man and a woman on suspicion of theft of a motor vehicle. They remain on police bail while further enquiries are carried out.The force has since given the gifts back to their owner, just in time for Christmas.

David Jones, from the Longwell Green area of South Gloucestershire, couldn't believe his luck when he received the call to say they'd been found.

Police asked for the public's help in finding the rightful owner of the gifts. Credit: PA Images

The gifts had been given to him, his partner and his two children by his two sisters Debbie and Sarah, and he'd stored them in his car.In response to the presents being found, David said: “I was absolutely gutted when I found they’d been stolen from the car. I told my sister and my partner but I just couldn’t bring myself to tell the kids until it all came out yesterday.“I was so taken aback when they were found – it’s just amazing and I’m grateful to everyone who’s helped get them back.”David's sister Debbie added: “We couldn’t leave them without any presents so we went out and bought more – some presents we bought again but we also bought different ones too.“I couldn’t believe it when I was told but then we found the Facebook post. It’s such an amazing story and I’m so grateful they’ve been found.”

Several bags of wrapped Christmas presents were found, most of which were labelled from “Debbie and Lee” or “Sarah, Rich, Max and Joe”. Credit: PA Images

Inspector Matt Boiles of Avon and Somerset Police said: “We’re so pleased to be able to return these stolen Christmas presents.“This is a great example of the power of our public appeals and the support we get from our communities.“We hadn’t previously linked the presents recovered from the back of a car until we issued photos of the wrapping and labels yet within hours David and Sarah had contacted us after seeing the appeal on social media."