Buggy theft leaves disabled toddler housebound

A disabled boy from Leigh Park has been left housebound after thieves stole a specially adapted wheelchair from outside his home.

Three-year old Jacob Scott’s custom-made buggy was stolen on Suffolk Road just before 1.00am on Monday 6th July. Jacob needs the bespoke grey, blue and orange wheelchair as he is unable to sit up on his own due to a rare disorder similar to cerebral palsy.
Jacob’s mother Rachelle Allen said, “I like to take him out for a walk every day to town or to the park to feed the ducks but now we’re not able to do anything really.”

Rachelle said that as she does not drive, she is now unable to take Jacob to the special needs nursery which he attends in Trowbridge, or to his weekly swimming session to help relax his muscles.
Rachelle said, “The nursery is brilliant. They do physio with him and have a sensory room, but he’s missing out on all of that now.
Rachelle was at a Take That concert in London with Jacob’s father John Scott, 26, when the buggy was stolen. She said, “It’s a bit frightening, more so for mum because she was here at the time.
“We’ve lived here for a year and had no trouble, but now it makes you think that if someone is going to do that, is there going to be more of a problem with burglary and crime?”
A pair of Jacob’s shoes and the buggy’s rain cover were discovered left on a roundabout nearby the house. Rachelle said that the Wheelchair Service is unlikely to replace the £600 buggy but she hopes when the thieves realise it belongs to a disabled child they might return it.
She said, “I just want it back. I don’t know why anyone would take it.”

Anybody with information regarding this incident is asked to contact Wiltshire Police on 0845 408 7000 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.