‘Do you know this dog?’ Hunt for stolen iPad causes online storm

A man who had his iPad stolen while out shopping over Christmas is tracking it down after managing to access a number of pictures taken since the theft.

Tom Clarke, 26, realised his iPad was missing after he had returned home from a trip to Tesco in Holmbush, Sussex, on 18 December – but later received a shock when pictures from the device came through on a stream set up to his iPhone.

A number of the images were taken of a dog just two hours after the iPad was stolen, with a picture of luggage and an unknown man also coming through on 22 December.

Using the images Mr Clarke caused a storm online with a post on Brighton FC fansite ‘North Stand Chat’ amassing 10,000 views with thousands attempting to track down the device.

“I was away in Sweden on Christmas Day and I got two emails to say that the message had been delivered and that the iPad was locked. I thought at least they’ve seen the message and they might get in contact. Then as I was looking through my photos that day I noticed a picture of a dog, which I thought was a bit weird as I don’t have a dog”.

 Mr Clarke found that the GPS on the device had been switched off so he was unable to find out where the images were taken.

“I don’t want to say it was stolen as they may have found it on the floor of Tesco’s car park. I’m not that interested in the person who has it, I just want the iPad back. The guy in that picture is not by any means a thief he just knows the person who has it”.

“It is just a really personal thing for someone to have in their possession with so many of my details and information on it. If I had something that had that much attachment to it I couldn’t just take it,” he added.

The images which have been sent to the police have yet to lead to any arrests. 

If you recognise the man in the image or know any information please contact Sussex Police by calling 101 and quoting the crime reference WW3/113390/11