Pat Gregory returned home from visiting her sick son in hospital to find her home had been burgled and items including her mother’s engagement ring stolen

A Bush Hill Park councillor has spoken of her trauma after coming home last week to find her home had been burgled and several irreplaceable family items stolen.

Pat Gregory, who has represented the ward as a Conservative since 2022, was visiting her seriously ill son at a hospital in Stoke-on-Trent for a few days when burglars broke into her home through a rear window and stole tens of thousands of pounds worth of possessions.

The thieves stole Cllr Gregory’s entire jewellery collection, including her mother’s engagement ring and a Rolex watch, while also bizarrely stealing items that only have sentimental value – such as old VHS tapes containing footage of her late husband.

Cllr Gregory is 75 years old and lives alone, but has said the incident will only make her stronger. She has previously survived a serious road collision and breast cancer.

“It was a shock [but] they won’t beat me, I am determined to carry on,” Cllr Gregory told the Dispatch earlier today (Tuesday 3rd).

“These bastards who have done this to me, they won’t win, I am not frightened. I am tough.”

Cllr Gregory has had to spend several days clearing up the mess left behind by the burglars and has not been able to sleep in her bedroom since it happened.

She added: “There is not a scrap of jewellery left. They have wiped me out of my mother’s and grandmother’s jewellery, and they’ve even taken personal things of no value to them.

“But I am strong.”

Cllr Gregory was previously a councillor in Cambridgeshire, where she ran an animal sanctuary as a volunteer for the Blue Cross and RSPCA. While serving as mayor of St Neots, she also had 15 minutes of fame in the mid-2000s, first as a winner on Deal or No Deal, and then as a contestant on The X Factor.

No arrests have been made in connection with the burglary at Cllr Gregory’s home, in Manorway, between Monday and Thursday last week. Anyone with information should call police on 101 and quote crime reference number CAD 6549/29AUG24.

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