Prison for man who stole grieving father's laptop at child's funeral

A thief who stole a grieving father’s laptop from the funeral of the victim’s six-year-old boy has been jailed for four and a half years, Scotland Yard said.

The computer had been used in the service to show precious photos of the boy, TJ Martin, who died after battling a rare illness.

Mourners left the service at the Pentecostal City Church in Harlesden, north-west London and went to the nearby Kensal Rise cemetery for the burial.

When they returned to the church they discovered the laptop had been stolen.

Franklyn Mathurin, 47, of no fixed abode, pleaded guilty to carrying out the burglary on November 2.

He was jailed today at London’s Harrow Crown Court, police said.

The boy’s parents have previously issued an emotional appeal for the return of the computer, which has not been found.

Pat Martin, the boy’s mother, said: “It’s as important as life itself that we get the laptop back.

“Unfortunately, TJ’s life is no longer, he’s been taken from us, and that laptop has all of our memories of him, short of what we hold in our hearts.”

Her son was born with Candle syndrome, a rare disorder characterised by inflammation and fever, and spent much of his life in hospital before losing his fight with illness.

Norris Martin, the boy’s father, said: “The photos on the laptop are six years of family photos, even from (TJ’s) birth.

“All the memories that we have of him are on that laptop. We have a few on my phone, but that’s only the last year and a half.”