Grave flowers stolen to sell in pubs

A heartless thief stole flowers laid by grieving loved ones at a Sheffield cemetery to sell them to revellers in city centre pubs. Dundar Akyar, aged 47, who failed to show up for his trial at Sheffield Magistrates' Court, was convicted in his absence of stealing roses from City Road Cemetery. His crime was condemned as "despicable" by Sheffield Council Labour group leader Coun Jan Wilson, whose ward includes the cemetery. She said: "This man deserves everything that's coming to him. Nothing could be more serious than people having flowers stolen from their loved ones' graves."

The court heard the shameless thief - who hawks flowers and plastic cowboy hats around pubs in the city centre - stoled the blooms to sell them. A year ago grieving relatives were being warned not to lay flowers at City Road Cemetery in case they were stolen. Police even suggested mourners cut stalks off flowers they did take to the graveyard, so the blooms could not be made up into fresh bunches and sold. After months of thefts from the site, Akyar was arrested at the end of July this year - and cemetery caretaker Victor Ellis said that, since then, the crimes have stopped.

Mr Ellis, 60, caretaker at the cemetery for the last 45 years, spotted Akyar when he was out walking a friend's dogs early one morning. "It was about 5am, and I knew he was up to no good," Mr Ellis said. "We've often had a problem with pilfering from the site. As we don't even open until 8am I knew what he was doing wasn't right.



"He was holding a black bin liner and a plastic bag, and when he saw me he made a point of saying into his mobile phone that he was going to put some roses on a grave - but it was five in the morning." Mr Ellis went back to his home on nearby Harwich Road and watched Akyar from his upstairs window. "I could see him walking between the graves and looking around to see if anyone was watching," he said. "He kept bending down and putting things in his bag."

PCs Jessica Womersley and Martin Simcock told magistrates they tracked Akyar by following wet footprints leading from the graveyard after Mr Ellis called them to the scene. They found him waiting for a bus at Manor Park Centre, and arrested him when they found 50 fresh roses in his plastic bag. A further search revealed a small bereavement card to 'David' with the message: "With love, remembering you today and always." He claimed he had found the roses discarded in a bush near The Castle pub on Manor Lane and intended to clean them and sell them for £1.50 a stem.

But magistrate Esmé Talbot said Akyar's evidence was "confused and inconsistent", and found him guilty of theft. She issued a warrant without bail for his arrest, and said the court would sentence him when he had been found.