Mother-of-two Vickie Timbrell hit the headlines this week after footage of her appearing to take a football jersey from eight-year-old Ted Dockray went viral.
Ted and Ms Timbrell were both in the crowd for Preston North End’s match at the weekend, when striker Jermaine Beckford threw his jersey into the sea of fans. While Ted was caught on security footage catching the jersey, Ms Timbrell was then seen taking it from his hands.
The jersey was later seen up for sale on the website Gumtree, with a hefty price tag of £1,500 attached.
Young Ted’s family took to their social media channels to comment on the shocking incident, with his aunt writing on Facebook: “How can you steal from an eight-year-old? Football is his life. My nephew is gutted. All he wanted to do is wear that shirt with pride, regardless of the value.”
Once Ms Timbrell was identified by members of the public, she faced major backlash for her actions. She has since closed her Facebook account amid growing pressure to return the jersey to Ted.
When The Mirror reached out for comment today, Ms Timbrell simply said: “My side of the story will soon come out.”
Meanwhile, the man of the hour Jermaine Beckford has weighed in on the incident, saying: “It was intended as a goodwill gesture. I assumed it would go to a good home from someone who was able to enjoy the game today. Hopefully, it will find its way back to the kid who caught it.”
Let’s hope that Ms Timbrell does the right thing here.
