'I hope the police get him first': Landlady issues warning after burglar targets Sheffield United pub

The crook struck at the Railway Hotel in the early hours of Monday when landlady Carol Donaldson was away from the pub recovering from a debilitating bout of Covid – her second of the pandemic.

The grandmother-of-seven is also still grieving following the shock death of her husband of 56 years, David, who died of sepsis seven weeks ago.

Carol said she is convinced the burglar who targeted her pub knew she was vulnerable.

He stole spirits, beer bottles and attempted to take two TVs.

She took over the pub last summer, renovated it and was only open for seven weeks before she was forced to close due to Covid restrictions.

Carol, who has two grown-up children, is a retired nurse who lost her daughter Tanya to pneumonia when she was 24 years old.

Tanya suffered from an extremely rare condition, which was called ‘Donaldson’s Syndrome’ after her. It caused her to stop growing, leaving her trapped in the mind and body of a four-year-old.

Carol said: “It has been a terrible few weeks. Losing David and feeling so ill myself that I thought my children would be burying both their parents within a matter of weeks, and then this.

“I’m convinced whoever did this knows what I have been going through and took advantage. They are the lowest of the low.”

She added: “The Blades who come in here are very loyal and supportive and they are disgusted and fuming at the break-in. I hope the police catch whoever did it first.”

Carol continued: “After everything that has happened, it would be easy to walk away but then the burglar has won, so I won’t be doing that.

“When I survived Covid the first time it made me want to do something I had always dreamed of, which was to open a pub. I’m focusing on getting myself well and back behind the bar.”

Anyone with information should call South Yorkshire Police on 101 and quote reference number SYP-20210713-0331.

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