Antiques experts brought in to investigate stolen medals

The house of a Gulf War veteran was broken into on April 28 and the military honours were allegedly targeted as nothing else was stolen.

And it has emerged that days after the alleged theft, that a seller attempting to part with five military medals went into the antiques centre on Saturday, May 7.

Antiques expert Richard Northey at the Victoria Collectables in Mansfield told us: "We had a bloke come in looking for a valuation of five medals.

"We didn't think at the time they may have been stolen, but he would have been caught on CCTV if it will help."

The seller left a list of the medals to be valued. This included medals for service in Afghanistan, Iraq, Northern Ireland, and a Long Service Good Conduct medal.

We asked the centre to compare the list to the picture of stolen medals provided, and Richard and his colleagues at Charmingly Yours were able to give us a clue as to whether they were connected.

These medals are identified as a UN medal, two for service in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait and two which were indistinguishable.

Richard added: "The Saudi medal is possibly worth £15 - the others aren't worth much. It's a matter of what regiment the soldier was in - if he was in the commandos and they're genuine, then they could be worth a bit of money.

You cant give an accurate the valuation because little differences make an impact on the price. So without knowing what regiment he was in, and what rank - if he was a commando or in the paras they're worth far more, maybe £2,000, but much less for someone in the logistical corps, say. And if he's a captain or an officer it varies to if he was a private or a corporal.

But the medals definitely didn't match up because at least two honours were different, he added.

"The bloke who came in looked as hard as nails and as thick as nails - so he looked like a soldier. He would have been caught on CCTV. I'd be very surprised if the bloke we saw had stolen them."

The incident occurred in Lathkill Drive, South Normanton sometime between 10am and 12.50pm on Thursday, April 28.

A police spokesman said: "A burglar broke into a house - thought the downstairs window. They took five war medals, one awarded for serving in Northern Ireland and one for serving in the Gulf War. Both medals are stamped with the victim’s army number 24780829."

It is believed there may be an increase in the number of medal thefts as burglars believe they have more value than they do.

"They could be valuable but it depends what regiment and what year. Unless there's something like a military cross, if it's just service medals, they don't fetch a lot."

The centre was also called over the weekend by a seller asking for a valuation for war medals - the centre is inquiring into whether this is linked to the thefts.

Anyone with information should call DC Kelia Marceta-Cooper on 101, quoting crime reference number 18370/16. Alternatively, send her a message online by visiting the Contact Us section of our website www.derbyshire.police.uk/Contact-Us. You can also call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.