A thief who left an American soccer legend feeling “completely gutted” by dismantling his stolen Corridor of Fame ring to attempt to promote its gems has been jailed for greater than two years.
Andre Reed, who performed as a large receiver for the Buffalo Payments within the Eighties and Nineteen Nineties, reported that the ring and different valuables, together with passports, had been stolen from a room at London’s Leonardo resort final October.
Gary Towsey, 39, was sentenced final week by interior London crown court docket to 25 months in jail after admitting fees of dealing with stolen items and fraud. There was no proof linking him to the Leonardo resort break-in, however he additionally admitted a separate resort housebreaking.
Towsey was captured on CCTV carrying Reed’s ring and a Gucci bag that had additionally been stolen from Reed’s room, as he entered a jeweller’s in Leeds. He tried to promote the ring, which was valued at greater than £35,000. The jewellers refused as a result of there was no supervisor there to authorise the sale.
Towsey then walked a few doorways all the way down to a pawnbroker, who additionally refused to purchase it. However when he requested for the ring to be dismantled and handed again to him in elements, each outlets helped to interrupt it up for its jewels.
The following day suspicious employees on the jewellers contacted Reed on social media, when he confirmed the ring had been stolen. The knowledge was then handed to Metropolis of London police.
Towsey was arrested the day after he was launched from jail for one more crime.
The gems have since been returned to Reed.
In a sufferer influence assertion, he mentioned: “My Corridor of Fame ring was completely distinctive and meant a lot to me. There was just one and it was so very particular having been made and offered to me in recognition of all of my NFL sporting achievements. I’m actually pleased with that and I cherished it as I understand how a lot private effort, onerous work and sacrifice I had put into my enjoying profession.
“I’m now completely gutted that I’ll by no means see my ring once more. It actually upsets me on the considered the ring being dismantled and offered on. I hope all these involved are held chargeable for their actions.
He added: “The ring is priceless, it was considered one of a sort and can’t be changed. It’s so distinctive and strange that I’m stunned it wasn’t recognized for what it was. If you happen to search the web, you’ll simply discover all the particulars about it and plenty of images. It could be not possible for any individual who stole it to not know what it was and the true worth of it.”
Reed, 60, was in London for a Buffalo Payments sport in opposition to the Jacksonville Jaguars on the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. In a social media publish concerning the housebreaking he mentioned he felt “unsafe and violated”.
