Grieving widower Dennis Skiggs’ appeal to thieves

Published: 06 August, 2010
by PETER GRUNER

AN Angel man whose wife died from cancer has appealed to thieves who broke into his home to return photographs of the couple’s last months together.

Dennis Skiggs, 68, whose wife Wendy died in a hospice in April this year, had his digital camera with hundreds of photos stolen in a burglary at their flat off Claremont Square on Saturday night.

Wendy, a retired public relations consultant in the theatrical industry, was 71 when she died from pancreatic cancer at St John’s Hospice in St John’s Wood, Hampstead.

Mr Skiggs, a retired contract manager, said: “I don’t care if I don’t get the camera back. They can keep the TV and the laptop and everything else they took.

“But if I could just get back the memory card with all our photos I’d be satisfied.”

Mr Skiggs had been out when the robbery occurred, between the hours of 9.30pm and 1.30am. The thieves climbed through a window to gain entrance to the flat. They would have had to remove dozens of bereavement cards to reach the Pentex Optio M20 camera on the mantelpiece.

The couple, who had no children, had been living together for almost 50 years before deciding to finally get married at Islington Town Hall in 2005. 

“We’d never bothered to tie the knot until late in life,” Mr Skiggs said. “But we were always very much in love. 

“I know it sounds a bit corny but there was hardly ever a cross word between us. 

“Wendy was not just my wife but she was my best friend and soul-mate. 

“We did everything together and went everywhere together. 

“These last few months since she died have been extremely difficult and upsetting for me. I miss her so much.”

The photographs show Wendy tending her small garden at the Angel as well as the couple enjoying themselves on their last holidays together in France and Northern Cyprus. 

Wendy was diagnosed with terminal cancer at University college hospital just six months before she died.

“The pictures won’t mean anything to anyone else but me,” Mr Skiggs added. “But they are among the remaining memories I have of her. 

“I urge anyone who knows anything about this to help me to retrieve the memory card.  

“All they need to do is pop the card into an envelope with my name on it and hand it into the police – no questions asked.”

Anyone with information should contact Islington Police on 0300 123 1212, or anonymously on Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.