Cancer victim Rio Hamblin
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Famliy friend steals cash at Rio Hamblin's wake
By Lorna CatlingJune 23, 2009
A Bracknell man has pleaded guilty to stealing money at the wake of 11-year-old cancer victim Rio Hamblin.
John Lewendon, a trusted friend of Rio's family, appeared before Maidenhead magistrates charged with theft from the collection at the wake of the Crowthorne schoolgirl.
Lewendon, from Aragon Court was trusted by Rio’s grandmother Maggie Stonehouse to pass round the collection while she briefly left the room.
When Maggie counted the money raised the next day, Thursday, May 21, she realised there was not as much as there should be.
The court heard how she studied the CCTV footage from the Admiral Cunningham Pub, in Priestwood, where the wake was held.
It showed Lewendon twice taking money out of the collection, which was for the Paediatric Intensive Care Unit at St George’s Hospital in Tooting that cared for Rio.
A victim statement from Rio’s mum Zoe, of Napier Close, was read out by prosecution solicitor Lorna Tagoe during the hearing last Wednesday.
She said: “The day of the funeral was beautiful but because of this I am left with painful memories.
“Nothing can replace what he has been done to us. I always have to walk past his barber’s shop and see him happily working there.
“I feel extremely hurt and angry he tainted my daughter’s day.
“How dare he turn something so beautiful into something so tainted just because he couldn’t keep his hands in his pockets?
“Whatever did my 11-year-old daughter daughter do to Big John to make him want to damage her memory like this?”
David Todd, defending, said the circumstances surrounding the theft were “unfortunate” and added: “Temptation just got the better of him”.
The exact amount taken is not known but is thought to be between £40 and £60.
Magistrates chairman Richard Thomas said: “We are dealing here with a particularly nasty case of theft, a morally despicable case of theft.
“You were a trusted family friend and you removed money from the collection, not coins but notes, and then attempted to conceal it by replacing it with coins.
“This is a particularly nasty way of stealing money.”
Lewendon was discharged on conditional bail and will reappear before magistrates in Slough on Thursday, July 9, for sentencing.
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Ben Kirkwood
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I really miss you babe, GracexXxXxXx
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