By Paul Sims
Last updated at 1:58 AM on 5th July 2011
Engraved with the names of 57 civilians killed during German bombing raids, it was created as a permanent reminder of lives lost in the Second World War.
But to two callous men, a bronze plaque found discarded in grassland was nothing more than an opportunity to make a quick profit.
Having discovered the stolen memorial, John Ferguson, 37, and Anthony Roberts, 18, loaded it on to a van and sold it for scrap, sharing the 124 windfall, a court was told.
Shameless: Anthony Roberts (left) and John Ferguson found a stolen war memorial and carelessly sold it for scrap, shocking those with relatives remembered on it
Tribute: The Grangetown plaque, which commemorated those that lost their lives during the Second World War
Restored: The memorial, in Grangetown, Sunderland, is dedicated to those who lost their lives to Nazi air raids in the city during World War II
Judge David Wood said: 'How you two could have sunk so low to do that really beggars belief.
'To have it stolen is bad enough, to have it weighed in at a scrapyard is just disgraceful.'
The families of those named on the plaque were left distraught by its theft last September from Grangetown cemetery in Sunderland. The two foot by four foot memorial had been ripped from the chapel wall and dumped in grassland.
Three days later Roberts, then 17, claimed he found it lying in the grass as he returned home from a fishing trip.
He came back the next day with Ferguson, who owned a van, and the two men drove to a nearby dealer, who weighed it with the inscription facing downwards.
INSULTING THE DEAD
The bombing of Sunderland began on July 21, 1940, and lasted until May 24, 1943, killing 267.
Last night Lawrence Smith, 84, whose mother, brother and sister were killed when a bomb hit their air raid shelter in 1941, and who feature on the Grangetown plaque, said: 'It is made of bronze, so it is worth money.
'But it is nothing to what it means to the families of those who lost their lives.
'It's not just a piece of metal. It is an historical record and a tribute to those who died.'
Brothers Edward and Septimus Carter, who also feature on the plaque, were killed by a bomb in Hendon in 1942.
Edward's grandson Colin, 52, said: 'I don't think people today realise what those people went through during the war.'
By the time it reached the scrap-yard, it was already badly damaged and it was only later when the merchant turned it over and realised what it was that he contacted police, Newcastle Crown Court was told.
The pair claimed they never thought to turn the plaque over.
Had they done so, they would have seen the list of names and the inscription: 'In everlasting memory we record the names of those civilians who lost their lives through enemy action on this town and are interred in this cemetery.'
Sunderland – the seventh most bombed city in Britain during the war – was a key Luftwaffe target because of its shipbuilding industry, with seven docks along the River Wear. The plaque has now been returned to the cemetery. Paul Rowland, prosecuting, said: 'It was worth in excess of 15,000 and the damage done to it amounted to 1,198.'
Robert Adams, mitigating for Roberts, admitted: 'Most members of the public would be absolutely appalled that a war memorial came dangerously close to being melted down for scrap.'
His client was a 'stupid teenager' who did not realise the seriousness of what he had done, he added.
Leaving court with a coat over his head Roberts said afterwards: 'I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done it.' Roberts, of High Barnes, Sunderland, was sentenced to nine months in a youth offenders' institution suspended for 12 months, with 150 hours unpaid work, after he admitted handling stolen goods.
Ferguson, of Hendon, Sunderland, was sentenced to six months imprisonment, suspended for 12 months, with 150 hours unpaid work after admitting to the same offence.
Now this is where Sharia law would come in handy for these scumbags.
- Brian, Spennymoor, 04/7/2011 20:01
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