CCTV shows moment thieves steal quad bike from house in Clare Avenue, Tonbridge
15:28, 10 February 2024
updated: 15:32, 10 February 2024
A boy has been left distraught after his beloved quad bike was stolen and then torched.
CCTV has captured the moment shortly after 1am that two thieves struck at 10-year-old Riczi Wenham’s home in Clare Avenue, Tonbridge.
The pair can be seen wheeling away the bike, which was later discovered burnt out on land behind the family’s home.
Riczi’s father Ricky Wenham told KentOnline of the moment his son found his pride and joy destroyed on the morning of February 5.
“He’s gone looking for it and he came back and said he’d found the quad but they had set it on fire,” the 39-year-old said.
“He was really upset, because he is autistic and has severe ADHD, and it’s like his best friend. He’s attached to it, he’s always going out there cleaning it, looking after it.
“That quad took his mind off things, you know, it gave him something to focus on all the time. Because he’s ADHD he’s constantly thinking, and talking about things, and that was his escape.
“It was brilliant, and now someone’s come and taken it.”
Mr Wenham says that since the bike was stolen and destroyed his son, who is only able to go to school for a few hours each week, has been unable to tear himself away from the burnt out remains of the vehicle.
He said: “Poor little Riczi, he’s been out there every day, going to his quad and just standing around it because he’s attached to it.
“He wanted to bring it home, because he thought he could fix it. It’s really affected him, he hasn’t experienced anything like that.
“And it was the only night we didn’t chain it up. I couldn’t find a torch that night and the chain was in the garden somewhere, I was looking around in the dark and I couldn’t find it.
“If I found that they probably wouldn’t have got it.”
The family have now set up a fundraiser in the hope they can raise £1,050 to replace the quad bike.
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