Appeal for witnesses as thieves steal defibrillator

Jan 19 2008 by Liam Murphy, Liverpool Daily Post

BRITISH Transport Police are appealing for witnesses after a potentially life-saving piece of equipment was stolen from a busy Liverpool railway station.

The defibrillator, which can be used to assist people during a cardiac arrest, was stolen from a cabinet on Platform 1 at Lime Street station around 6.30pm on Sunday, December 23.

Merseyrail staff have been trained to use the lifesaving heart defibrillator, which cost £1,500, which helps dramatically improve survival rates for heart attack victims.

Fortunately, the machine was found discarded the next day at Hamilton Square railway station.

Police investigators have reviewed CCTV and are appealing for witnesses to identify the three offenders.

PC Nikki McVey said: “I am appealing for anyone who may recognise the youths pictured or who has any information that may assist with the investigation to come forward.

“I would urge anyone who was near Platform 1 at the time or who saw youths matching these descriptions to contact police.”

The first offender is described as white, male, of medium to stocky build, between 5ft 7” to 5ft 10” with short brown hair.

The second is whit, male, of stocky build, between 5ft 10” to 6ft 1”. He was wearing blue denim jeans, a black jacket and white trainers.

The third offender is described as white male, of small build, between 5ft 5” to 5ft 8” tall, with short brown hair. He was wearing dark blue tracksuit bottoms and a dark sports jacket.

Anyone who may recognise the youths from the CCTV images or who was near platform 1 at Lime Street station between 6pm and 7pm on Sunday 23 December is asked to contact BTP on 0800 40 50 40 quoting incident 282 of 23/12/07 or call Crimestoppers