Story Archive

Loving Parents II

Kim Ager, 35, and Matthew Ingham, 37, of Keighley, in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, visited their son often when he was in the Leeds General Infirmary’s Ward 31, being treated for cancer. But hospital officials noticed that laptops donated by a charity were going missing. Ingham stole them and Ager sold the laptops on Facebook for 50 pounds (US$72) each — a tiny fraction of their value, investigators say. The scheme came unraveled when buyers found the computers said “Ward 31” when booted and figured it out — and called police. When confronted, Ager and Ingham blamed their 10-year-old cancer-stricken son for the thefts, but that story fell apart quickly. Ingham was jailed for 2 years; Ager for 9 months. “It is difficult to find a word that describes just how despicable this offending was,” Leeds Crown Court Judge Sally Cahill told the couple. (RC/Keighley Online) ...Especially a word that can be openly printed in newspapers.