Residents fume as mysterious plant pot thief still on the loose

Colin Doherty, 60, has had his front garden raided twice in the past fortnight, losing a total of three plant pots.

“I have had to move several of my pots from the front garden to the back one for fear that they may be taken,” he said.

Mr Doherty, who lives on Montgomery Avenue in Pinehurst, was surprised that the thieves chose to steal the type of pots that they did, as others would have been of more monetary worth.

“On my front garden there are concrete plant pots which are worth more but the plant pots they are taking have no value,” he said.

“The three pots were the cheap plastic ones and had dead flowers in them, so they weren’t worth much.”

This plant pot is the exact same model as the three that were taken from Mr Doherty's front garden. (Image: Newsquest)

One of Pinehurst’s other residents also had pots stolen from her, losing seven pots from her home on the neighbouring street, Portal Road.

The woman, who did not wish to be named, is an 83-year-old pensioner and has a six-foot fence which would have had to be scaled to access the location of the stolen plant pots.

“They’ve had to climb a six-foot fence to steal plastic plant pots. There is no logic in it,” said Mr Doherty regarding his neighbour’s incident.

Mr Doherty, who has been a Swindon resident for 30 years after moving to the town from Luton, is a very keen gardener who upcycles disused items, turning them into ornaments for his garden.

“I like to upcycle thrown away and disused items in the garden to bring them a new life,” he added.

“Anything from old Henry Hoovers and children’s play cars have all been used to house plants in my garden.”

Mr Doherty quit work in 2018 because of an operation on his back after two discs collapsed and has found himself spending most of his time in the garden ever since.

“Gardening is my only outlet as I am still having problems with my back,” he explained.

“I can’t do a lot physically, so I like to potter around the garden.”

Mr Doherty's front garden where the plant pots were stolen from. (Image: Newsquest)

A Wiltshire Police spokesman said: “If anyone has information about this incident, please contact us and quote log number 54220115491.”

“We would also appeal directly to the person responsible to do the right thing and return the stolen items.”

“Anyone who has been the victim of a similar crime to report it to us either by calling 101 or online by following this link.”