Scrapyard staff who found £20,000 cash in old safe donate it to hospices after claimant failed to convince police they were the rightful owner
- Sackers yard handed the money over to police for six months after finding it
- But, when no owner came forward, they claimed the money in the magistrates
- Will be split between St Elizabeth hospice and East Anglia’s Children’s hospice
Scrapyard staff who found £20,000 in an old safe have decided to donate all the money to charity after a claimant failed to convince police that they were the rightful owner.
Kind-hearted staff at Sackers yard in Great Blakenham, Suffolk, found the money in bundles that included old notes when they tore open one of four safes for recycling.
It was handed over to police, who kept it in a store for six months in case the owner could be found, before being handed back to Sackers after they went to the magistrates court to claim the money as the legal finder.
The old notes will now be changed into legal tender before being split between St Elizabeth hospice in Ipswich and East Anglia’s Children’s hospice (EACH).
Scrapyard staff at Sackers yard in Great Blakenham, Suffolk, have decided to donate £20,000 they found wrapped in bundles inside an old safe to St Elizabeth hospice and East Anglia Children’s hospice
It was discovered in one of four old safes that were broken into before being recycled
Marketing manager at Sackers, Helen Crapnell, said: ‘We announced we found the money in June and handed it to the police.
‘We had a few people try and claim it from us, and the police also had someone claim it was theirs, but nothing came of those.
‘The police couldn’t prove it was proceeds of crime, so we had our day in court and the magistrate heard about the charities we wanted to give the money to.’
Ms Crapnell said the court made its decision quickly.
She added: ‘They’re both great causes to give to, especially this close to Christmas.
‘We wanted to give the money to somewhere local so it could really make a difference.’
The money was found inside this old safe. It was held by police for six months before the scrapyard claimed the money as they were the legal finder
Half of the money will be donated to St Elizabeth hospice in Ipswich, pictured, while the other half will go to East Anglia Children’s hospice group
Liz Baldwin, spokesperson for St Elizabeth Hospice, said: ‘We’re so pleased that they have decided to split the findings with St Elizabeth Hospice and EACH, it’s such a lovely surprise for us just before Christmas.’
Rachel Dally, of EACH Suffolk, said: ‘Sackers has been a valued supporter of ours over the years.
‘We’re very grateful to hear of the company’s intention to make another generous donation. Thanks to the team for thinking of us.’
Mr Dodds said he believed that the safe could have been from an office in an old factory which was due for demolition.
He said: ‘When it’s demolished then all the scrap goes into the bin, comes into the works and then we treat it.
‘We gave it to police and one person came forward but within about 30 nanoseconds they realised they weren’t the correct owner of it.’
Sackers, which was founded in around 1920, and sorts scrap metal at Great Blakenham and commercial waste at Needham Market, Suffolk.
The business has grown significantly over the last few years and is able to recycle more than 90 per cent of all waste that enters its premises.
Yard manager Kevin Harrington said: ‘We often get safes in and we tend to store them up as they are quite difficult to deal with.
‘We had about eight in at the time when we started snipping them. We’d snipped up three before we found the money.’