AN ARMY man has hit out at a Redditch pawnbroker after his Afghanistan medal and electrical goods were stolen and sold on to them.
The borough resident, who did not wish to be named, has been able to retrieve the operational service medal which was bought by Cash Generators in the town centre, although the other goods worth £1,800 have still not been found.
Following the offender pleading guilty to stealing the items and selling them on, the resident has voiced his concerns others could be affected by similar issues.
“The items were clearly stolen and some were marked with my name, however Cash Generator were willing to buy them from the thief who gave his own name.” he said.
“The vast majority of my goods had already been sold on for profit by Cash Generator and the company was unwilling to provide details of where the goods were sold to, so the police were unable to retrieve them. Thankfully the medals were already sold back to the thief.”
A Cash Generator spokesman said all franchise stores were required to stick to rules including asking new customers for two forms of identification, providing proof of address dated within the last six weeks and questioning customers on their knowledge of the product.
“All franchisees know the importance of a good working relationship with the police. We actively welcome the opportunity to work alongside them with a view to assisting and co-operating at all times.
“We at Cash Generator consider ourselves to be extremely proactive in this field as opposed to reactive.
“If an item does turn out to be stolen, the store will immediately contact the police, the individual is flagged on the system to prevent further buying or selling from or to that individual, all related customer, video and product information is identified and passed to the police. The store will then work with the police to provide statements, further evidence and attend court hearings if asked.”
