"Dad's anger after thief steals brand new hot tub bought for kids' birthday party"

The still-packaged item was stolen in the dead of night but CCTV footage caught the individual in the act



A Coventry dad has spoken of his anger after a thief stole a brand new hot tub bought specifically for his kids' joint birthday party.

Jay Roberts of Coundon told CoventryLive how CCTV footage captured a man stealing tools from his garden, before returning an hour later to make off with the still-packaged hot tub.

The thief even made his escape using Jay's own wheelbarrow he had been using to do up the garden.

"It was brand new, hadn’t even been opened," Jay said of the hot tub, which was stolen in the early hours of Thursday morning. "

"We bought it specifically for my two kids' joint birthday as it falls a few days apart and they'd asked for a hot tub party.

"So I was really angry when I found out it had been stolen but mainly I was devastated for the kids. It’s really scared my children, they won't go upstairs on their own, and they have been sleeping in our bed, they are petrified.

"I’m the type of person who likes to help people out when I can - if he’d have knocked my door and asked for money for food or whatever, I would have given it to him."

Jay, a land planner for Taylor Wimpey, runs a local football team and is known in his local community so decided to use his contacts in the hope of getting the hot tub back.

He shared images and videos on Facebook explaining what had happened in the hope it would help in his quest.

Unbelievably, someone who had recently purchased a hot tub for a cut price of £200 saw the posts and quickly realised why he'd managed to scoop such a bargain.

He contacted Jay and apologised for unknowingly buying his stolen hot tub.

Eager to save his distraught children's birthday party, which is scheduled for this weekend, Jay didn't think twice before reimbursing the unsuspecting buyer in order to get the hot tub back.

Though the birthday celebrations are back on, much to the joy of Jay's children, who are turning eight and 10 respectively, the family are still keen to discover who the thief is.

Particularly as it turns out he had been using Jay's garden to get into an adjoining property, namely a nearby grocery store, for the past few months.

Supermarket reports hot tub thief to police for stealing food



The hot tub thief who burgled a Coventry family's garden has since been reported to police for stealing food.

CoventryLive recently reported on CCTV footage of a brand new hot tub being stolen from a secure garden in Coundon.

Jay Roberts was left angry after the item bought specifically for his children's birthday party was nicked in the dead of night last week.

The theft became more sinister when Jay checked back on his CCTV and realised the same thief had been regularly using the garden to gain access to a neighbouring Co-op grocery store.

At least five times in the previous three months the perpetrator had used Jay's garden wall to climb onto the roof of the shop, allowing him access to the store's bins.

The thief's late night ventures saw him rifling through the store's industrial bins and stealing food - unbeknown to staff.

Sam Buxton, area manager for Hearth of England Co-Op stores, thanked CoventryLive for bringing the issue to their attention.

"The police have been informed regarding theft of food from our bins," Sam said.

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"We have located some of the CCTV that highlights this and will be taking actions to prevent this going forward by looking to secure the bins further to prevent easy access."

Jay previously told CoventryLive: "I’m the type of person who likes to help people out when I can - if he’d have knocked my door and asked for money for food or whatever, I would have given it to him."

West Midlands Police advise there is still no arrests made and investigations are ongoing.