Gypsy woman stealing things in dulwich watch out

[meg_meg]

I was out with my friends today in goose green playground when i dropped my phone, it must have only been gone for about 4 minuets when i noticed it was gone. I went back to where i was and it wasn't there, according to the people that were there it was taken by an old lady who was with a person with a disability. I thought this woman would just hand it in to police or maybe a local church, so me and my friends decided to follow the route the woman went in to try and catch up. Two of us (me and my friend) went one direction and two other friends went a different way. I was continuously phoning my number trying to get through when it started to go to voicemail straight away which means she had turned it of. Thats when i stared to realize i might not get it back. We went back to the park and waited for the other two to get back. When they got back they said they bumped into my friends mum and told her what had happened, she said that something similar had happened to her and two of her friends, and old gypsy lady and a teenager who pretended to have a disability had stolen valuables from them in the same sort of area, they also said they saw these two people get into an old red peugeot 206 (we were unable to get the number plate) We have informed the police, but i am very sad about it. My phone is very valuable and i cant afford a new one at the moment. If anyone has any details or anything to help i would be grateful, also i though i would post so that you can be careful with your valuables in that area. X - Megan

[dimples]

Where exactly did this happen ?

Sorry to hear this

[meg_meg]

It was by the swings in goose green playgound, loads of people were around i am surprised no one saw anything.

[dimples]

Durrrrr. Sorry you had already put that !

[smashing]

What do you mean by 'gypsy lady'?

[PeckhamRose]

I know it is too late now, but for anyone else, and you when you get a new phone or your old one back, I highly recommend you install software on your computer and phone so you can track it when it gets lost. AndroidLost works for me.

[StraferJack]

Thing is organised thieves power down the device immediately to prevent software like that working. (As I found to my cost)

[meg_meg]

From what i know and have seen and heard she is gypsy.

If i get a new phone i am definitely going to download that thank you.

[Peckhampam]

You seem to have jumped to some completely unverifiable conclusions which do not uphold your post title. And I'm really not sure that you dropping your phone and going back 5 minutes later is someone stealing it. Have you checked it hasn't been handed in anywhere?

[Sue]

I'm sorry that you lost your phone, but if you don't look after your valuables anywhere, and particularly in an urban environment, you will be very lucky if you see them again.

It's not as if somebody had stolen your phone from your pocket, or mugged you for it.

And I too would like to know what you mean by "Gypsy woman".

Why didn't these people who say they saw her go off with your phone say something to her? From your description, she doesn't exactly sound very threatening.

[Earl Aelfheah]

You dropped your phone and when you went back, couldn't find it. 'some people' thought they saw an old lady pick it up. Your friends said they met your friends mum who said something similar happened to her and it was a gypsy?!?

Well my brother's cat's mother's friend met a man who once saw a dachshund steal an ice cream.

I think I agree with Peckhampam view on this.

Sorry you lost your phone though.

[Otta]

Haha, I wondered yesterday how long it would take for someone to jump on the use of "gypsy".

[Earl Aelfheah]

yeah, must admit I had been trying to resist.... But even putting the use of 'gypsy' aside, the case against the alleged perp isn't exactly watertight.

[Dopamine1979]

It does seem somewhat odd though Otta.

Your spidey sense is usually pretty good with this sort of thing.

[Earl Aelfheah]

I'm pretty sure it's the dachshund personally.

[Australianmumdad]

maybe they were referring to someone who lived in gypsy hill?

[3 little piggies]

Thank you to all who have posted kind comments.

Meg meg is my daughter and she is just 13 years old.

Please don't be rude or sarcastic to her in your comments. I'll advise her that maybe this forum isn't the place for her to post.

In the grand scheme of things, second only to her friends, her phone is probably the most important thing in her life at the moment (although, as I have pointed out to her, not important enough to look after properly!)

Her use of the term 'gipsy woman' was driven by the description given by the people in the area who saw the woman pick up the phone and immediately leave the playground. And as to why they didn't say anything to her, or question her, I would imagine that being children, and the fact she was with a 17/18 year old male, they didn't feel able to confront her.

And no, as you say Sue "It's not as if somebody had stolen your phone from your pocket, or mugged you for it", she wasn't mugged, thank goodness (although a couple of months ago on the way to school she had the misfortune to witness the mugging of a friend first hand, resulting in her and her friends having to have time out of school to give police witness statements and being advised to take a different route to school as they could be recognised and targeted by the muggers - not very nice!) so unfortunately she does know how that feels.

Meg and her friends had called her phone constantly as soon as she realised it was missing and initially it rang but after a couple of minutes of this it started to go straight to voicemail indicating that it had been turned off. If the woman who had picked it up intended to return it to it's owner she had just to answer it when it rang and she'd have been able to hand it back, it was just a matter of 3 or 4 minutes between the time Meg left the swings and noticed her phone missing so she wouldn't have been far away. Also, if she really wanted to return it to it's owner, why didn't she ask around, rather than immediately leave the playground. Some people who have answered Meg's original post don't seem to find this odd at all.

The parent who her friends met and spoke with mentioned being engaged in conversation in a shop on lordship lane by a woman and young man of a similar description and subsequently realised they had been pick-pocketed. Tenuous maybe, but possible?

She posted as soon as she got home yesterday.

She was upset.

She wanted to post in case anyone had seen anything.

Also to warn people to be vigilant.

We have reported this to the Police and I do believe that it is classed as a theft. Just because someone has dropped something, doesn't mean that someone else can come along and pick it up and walk off with it!

Footnote: I have, in my time, found and returned three phones to their owners. One found in St Francis Park in the amphitheatre - I called the contact 'Dad' and returned the phone to a house in Crystal Palace Road. The second found in a trolly in Sainsbury's which I answered when it rang and met the grateful owner in the car park a couple of hours later (a box of chocolates offered as a thanks). The third I found in Dulwich Road as I was cycling to work. Again, I called the contact 'Dad' who contacted his daughter who contacted me and arranged for her boyfriend - who had borrowed then dropped the phone - to collect from me at work. What goes around does come around - my son lost his phone in the park last year (a popular place to lose phones!)and the following day I had a call from a parent who had picked it up and I was able to gratefully collect.

If someone intends to return a phone to it's rightful owner it's actually quite easy.

If someone intends to take a phone, unfortunately it's actually also quite easy. But not right and for a 13 year old, a major disaster!

[Otta]

Good post. It seemed obvious to me that she was a young person (wouldn't have guessed as young as 13, but maybe later teens), and that the word Gypsy wasn't meant in any nasty / racist way.

Some people on here just like to jump on stuff like that in order to show how right on they are.

Hope her phone turns up, or that she keeps a closer eye on the one Santa brings her ;-)

[Dopamine1979]

Fair enough 3 little piggies.

[Doodle1]

I don't think it's wise for a13 year old to use social media in this manner.

She could have stated that she was 13. She was also replying to posts at 11.31 PM...

Personally I think a 13 year should be asleep or at the very least not be on a computer..

What would have happened if someone had posted " I have your phone please meet me to collect it"

The parents should take responsibility and apologise to other forum users for allowing their 13 year old to use the forum in this manner.

[StraferJack]

IF I disagreed with a parental action and was brave enough to tell another parent what they are doing wrong, I MIGHT do it via a private message instead of publicly berating them

[Nicholas]

Firstly sorry to hear that. This can happen to the best of us.

I noticed so many people these days leave their mobiles on the table in reastaurants bars etc.

To be honest 9 times out of 10 most things get handed in perticulary around the Dulwich area!

[Doodle1]

It's a forum..for adults.

[Jeremy]

It's for the whole community.

The parents have engaged on here, so are obviously aware of her activities and keeping an eye on things. In fact if I were in their shoes, I'd be telling you to mind your own business!

[intexasatthe moment]

I think she ( the 13 year old ) was very enterprising and sensible to post on here about her phone .

Hope her phoneless situation is sorted soon .