A midwife who used her bike in a Call the Midwife style to get to her patients has thanked Nottinghamshire Police for their swift response in reuniting her with it – after it was stolen for the third time from outside her work.
Cydney Hoy-Griffiths, who uses her bike to get to expectant and new mums, was heartbroken after callous thieves once again stole her bike from outside the GP practice she works at in Hyson Green.
Believing she would never get it back, she was shocked to spot it being sold on line when she clicked onto a local online marketplace.
She quickly contacted the police who moved swiftly to track down the online seller and visited an address in Bulwell, after gathering intelligence on the suspect.
The bike was then recovered and an arrest was made.
Ms Hoy-Griffiths, aged 24 of Lenton, had been working at Greenfields Medical Centre in Hyson Green and had her locked bike stolen last week. Previously her bike had been stolen two other times, once in London whilst working at a pub in Kensal Green five years ago and around two years ago outside Queen’s Medical Centre whilst studying Midwifery.
The thrilled midwife said: “I’m obviously delighted and I can’t thank the police more for their work. To have my bike returned so quickly is fantastic.
“I was very fortunate as I only spotted my bike on Facebook three minutes before it had been put on for sale. I just recognised it immediately and rang the police straight away. I couldn’t really believe it, I just wanted to ring the police as soon as possible. I was shocked and so grateful to the local officers who were on it straight away.
“It happened so fast, within couple of hours the officers picked me up in their police van and reunited me with my bike.
“Having my bike back is brilliant, it saves me so much time each day and keeps me active too. I’ve also bought insurance today, so I will be using it again on my commute tomorrow. It was my only form of transport into work and the bike was on a cycle to work scheme so I was still paying it off.
“I was absolutely devastated to see that my bike lock had been clipped whilst I was working. I was ending up walking around 30-minutes to work, rather than a 10-minute bike ride.”
A 26-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of theft and the bike was recovered. The arrested seller had previously been sold the bike by another man.
Chief Inspector Riz Khan said: “We are delighted to have got the bike back for the midwife. She had been working long hours with pregnant woman, a fantastic role for the community, and to have her bike taken whilst at work was despicable.
“This was fantastic speedy work by officers to recover the bike for the victim. My officers wasted no time in tracking and recovering the bike, aware of how crime effects people and their lives. Our aim is to help and reduce the fear of crime and build community confidence always, especially during this unprecedented time.
“The arrested man had been released under investigation pending further enquiries, and we are still appealing for any witnesses who can help us with our investigation.”
The bike was locked outside Greenfields Medical Centre in Terrace Street and was taken around 4.20pm on Wednesday 26 August.
Anyone who saw anything suspicious or has any information that could help is asked to contact the police on 101 quoting incident 511 of 26 August, or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
