Thief stole £300 collection tin for cancer patient

A thief who stole a collection tin worth £300 for cancer patient Oscar Saxelby-Lee, has been jailed for 18 weeks.

Lewis Isley, 41, admitted to stealing the donations from a grill bar in Lowesmoor, Worcester.

Oscar’s parents revealed today they had reached a £500,000 fundraising target for the boy’s leukaemia treatment in Singapore.

The family, from Worcester, have been raising money since tests last month showed he still had cancer following a stem cell transplant in May.

Isley, of Upton-upon-Severn, was also ordered to pay back the £300 as compensation when he was sentenced on September 25.

He was caught on CCTV stealing the money from Sophie’s Grill, while staff were away from the till at around 10.20pm on September 22.

Sophie Wall, who owns the outlet, said she noticed the tin was missing when she arrived the next day and checked their CCTV footage.

‘We were still open [at the time of the theft]. There were two members of staff, they were in the back washing up.

‘Our front door is right by the till – he could just reach in and didn’t even need to close the door first.

‘The staff and myself were very upset that someone could do something so heartless.

‘It really upset us all and we are happy that the man has been caught and is paying for the upset that he has caused.’

Oscar’s stem cell treatment took place after a donor was found among a queue of 5,000 who applied to give bone marrow to him.

But his leukaemia returned, leading his parents to try and raise £500,000 for treatment abroad as no other options were available on the NHS.

They were told his only hope was expensive CAR-T cell therapy, currently only available in Singapore, alongside another bone marrow transplant.

Many have donated online while others gave through sponsored events. Local schools and businesses held fundraising ‘Oscar days’.

His parents, Olivia Saxelby and Jamie Lee, urged people to keep donating to cover contingency funds if Oscar’s recovery is complicated.