Warsop community 'gutted' after theft of defibrillator installed in soldier's memory

The life-saving device was installed outside the Age Concern building on Warsop's High Street in 2016, after a fundraising drive in memory of Private Lee Bonsall, who took his own life in 2012.

Pt Bonsall's parents, Karen and Ken Bonsall have been at the forefront of the fundraising effort, and raised enough to have the device installed with the help of the community.

Bev Copestake, a friend of the family who has helped with the fundraising effort said: "I went to check on the defibrillator on Saturday, and it was gone. I did check with East Midlands Ambulance Service who said the device has not been allocated.

"We are all gutted. We wanted to give something back that Lee would be proud of.

"The defibrillator has been used a few times since it was installed, and we do get messages to say thank you.

"It had a unique code to open the door to get to the defibrillator, so we couldn't get our heads around how it was taken.

"We did this for Lee, and to have this happen is heartbreaking."

Bev and the Bonsall family hope that they can have another defibrillator installed, but are worried a replacement device will also be taken.

If you have any information about the defibrillator, please call Nottinghamshire Police on 101.