Mini marvels!

Jan 24 2008 by Andrew Hirst, Huddersfield Daily Examiner

MEET crime-busting brothers Jack and Charlie Bywater.

Eagle-eyed Jack, five, spotted thieves with toys he used to play on and alerted his parents – policeman Paul Bywater and his wife, Vanessa.

And while the couple got the toys back, Jack and two-year-old Charlie held onto the buggy with their baby sister, Ruby, in it.

Even though the thieves brushed past the two youngsters as they fled, they clung on firmly to the buggy.

The police were so impressed with their actions the brothers received certificates signed by Huddersfield police commander Chief Supt Barry South – and a box of chocolates each.

The certificates praised their vigilance.

The brothers are following in the footsteps of their 31-year-old dad, Paul, who is a traffic policeman in Huddersfield.

The family were out walking on Sunday, October 21, last year along Sorbus Way which backs on to Rowley Lane Junior, Infant and Nursery school in Lepton when Jack spotted a gang of teenagers walking in the opposite direction.

They had toys with them such as small bikes, trikes and stilts and Jack immediately realised they were toys he used to play on when he was at Rowley Lane Preschool.

Paul said: “He was so insistent he recognised them we believed him straight away. We could tell by the tone of his voice.’’

Paul and Vanessa told the boys to hold the buggy while they approached the youths.

They ran off – brushing past the family – but not before the couple grabbed hold of some of the stolen items.

They later discovered that the thieves had smashed a window in a hut at the preschool to grab the toys.

Vanessa, 39, had seen the direction the thieves had fled and followed the route the next day where she found two more toys dumped in bushes.

In all the couple retrieved toys worth £400.

No-one has been arrested in connection with the break-in.

Paul added: “Both Vanessa and I are immensely proud of our boys’ actions that day and bravery during an incident that would normally terrify children of their age.’’

The boys received their certificates – which will go on their bedroom walls – in a special assembly at Rowley Lane Junior, Infant and Nursery School where Jack is a Year One pupil.

They received their certificates from Insp David Glover who is in charge of Huddersfield South Neighbourhood Policing Team.

He said: “I’m pleased local children recognise their own school play equipment and know what is right and wrong and the fact that these youths were stealing.

“The thieves should appreciate that the things they were stealing meant a lot to the school and the young children who played with them.

“It’s a pleasure to present these two children with the certificates and the chocolates as they really are local heroes to the rest of the school.’’