A MAN WHO stole a laptop from a funeral service of a young boy has been jailed for four and a half years.
47-year-old Franklyn Mathurin had previously pleaded guilty to one count of burglary at Harrow Crown Court in London.
The laptop Mathurin had stolen was being used to show photos of TJ Martin, a young boy who had died of a rare illness, during his funeral service at a church in Hammersmith on 2 November last year.
TJ was born with Candle syndrome, a rare disorder, and had spent much of his life in hospital.
When the service finished the mourners left the church to attend the burial ceremony.
When they returned to the church, six-year-old TJ’s father Norris found that his HP laptop had been taken from the bag in which it was left.
Norris and his wife Pat had previously made an emotional appeal for the return of the laptop.
Mathurin was arrested and charged with burglary on 28 November last.
The laptop itself has never been recovered.
London’s Metropolitan Police have appealed for anyone who may have information regarding the stolen laptop to contact them.
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