Student who lost more than £7000 worth of items in a robbery has made an emotional appeal for only a single item to be returned

Student who lost more than £7000 worth of items in a robbery has made an emotional appeal for only a single item to be returned.

• Phoebe Alice Knowles from Castle Bromwich says she feels ‘violated’.
• Her family home was targeted by unknown robbers who stole several items including a gold engraved watch.
• The watch was left by Phoebe’s late Mother for her younger sibling when he turns 18.
• If anyone has any information please contact Crimestoppers anonymously at .

A student at the University of York whose family home was recently targeted over the Easter holidays by unknown burglars has made an emotional appeal for the items to be returned.

Phoebe Alice Knowles of Caste Bromwich, Birmingham said she was left, ‘devastated’ by the robbery as one of the items stolen was so special and irreplaceable to her and her family.

“I felt so uncomfortable and violated that someone had come into our home and just helped themselves to our possessions” stated Phoebe, “When I realised that they’d taken all of the jewelry in the house, I was devastated. I found it difficult to sleep for a week after as I was so on edge”.

Despite several items being stolen, including a Pandora Bracelet, priceless family heirlooms from her great great Grandmother and her Father’s wedding ring, Phoebe is desperately appealing for a single item to be returned – a solid gold men’s longines watch.

Devastatingly, the watch has huge sentimental value as it was purchased by her Mother who died of cancer when Phoebe was just 10 years old. Before her passing, she purchased the watch for Phoebe’s younger sibling Alexander to be given as a surprise to him on his 18^th Birthday. He is currently 15.

“It’s been nearly a decade since it was bought so we can’t remember the precise engraving” Phoebe stated, “But I believe it reads, ‘Alexander, I love you. Mummy’.

“The sentimental value of it outweighs the cost of it by a long shot, and my mum would be so heartbroken if she knew that the last thing she ever bought for her son had been taken. It breaks my heart as Alex shouldn’t be experiencing this.”.

Despite her original plea on Facebook receiving over 200 shares, unfortunately Phoebe has not received any more information.

Phoebe has desperately pleading direct saying: “You took a widower’s wedding ring, You took the jewellery my mum wore on her wedding day, you took family heirlooms, but worst of all, you took something that my brother has been looking forward to receiving for almost a decade – one last thing to remember his mum by. I don’t care how you get it back to us – anonymously to the police or whatever – but we just need it back. It’s worth so much more to us than it ever will be to you. Please prove to me that you’re not a complete monster”. The item was destined to be given to Alexander on his 18^th birthday so she could be with him at this pivotal milestone in his life.

“I was 10-years-old and my brother was 6 when she passed. She’d been suffering from cancer for a few years but it was still a shock when it happened, because my brother and I were still at an age where we hadn’t properly experienced death. I felt like I had to stay strong for him, so Alex (my brother) found it more difficult to cope with. Even now, he still hasn’t properly come to terms with it. This is why I was looking forward to him having the watch. Being so young, he doesn’t have many solid, happy memories of mum before she was diagnosed, so it would have been something for him to cherish and keep with him all the time, but that’s been taken away from him now”.

“My mum, Jo, was fantastic. Everybody loved her. She was beautiful, funny and had the best music taste. She’d do anything for anyone. She was suffering very badly, but she was always strong. Mum never hid anything from us. We were young but we knew exactly what was going on. She was the sort of woman who did charity runs to raise money for Cancer Research and Macmillan, even though she was exhausted and in constant agony. My mum was, and still is, a big inspiration to my brother and I”.

If anyone has any information relating to the whereabouts of this item, please call Crimestoppers anonymously on or the West Midlands Police Team at 101.