Couples lose wedding memories in cruel £15k theft

A Devon videographer says he is having start his business "from scratch" after £15,000 worth of equipment was stolen while he was working in London. He says he's had to tell multiple couples that their wedding videos are gone.

Hugh Murthwaite, from Torquay, says he had spent Tuesday (June 25) filming interviews in a meeting room at the Clinic on Harley Street in London. After the interviews were complete, Hugh left most of his equipment in the room with a member of Clinic staff while he filmed clips in the surgery.

He says that, when he returned to the room at around 2pm, his equipment, which included cameras, hard drives, SD cards and batteries, was gone. When CCTV was checked, it was discovered that someone had come in off the street and taken the items.

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Hugh told DevonLive: "In that morning, we'd filmed interviews in a meeting room and that was where my equipment was left. We finished the interviews, I packed all my equipment back into the bag so it was just in my black bags. I went into the reception area and was being called into the surgery rooms to film.

"At 1:52pm, a man came in off the street, hung around in the lobby area, gone into the meeting room and went over to a desk where there was two phones and a laptop, didn't take those and then went over to my bag, took that and the camera and then left the building."

He says he has lost "everything", including a number of wedding videos, as well as business documents and has had to take out a loan in order to be able to film a wedding in Greece on Tuesday (July 2).

"It's everything. I've had to tell brides that their wedding videos are gone, I've had to give refunds. I'm offering to edit videos taken by their guests. On that laptop is all of my accounting, my business documents. I've just got to start from scratch.

"The stress it's caused is phenomenal, it's been horrible. I have to film a wedding in Greece on Tuesday so I've had to take a loan to get camera equipment."

A fundraiser has been set up by Lyn Spindley to help get Hugh's business back up and running. So far, £460 has been raised from 18 donations.

A Metropolitan Police spokesperson said: "On 25 June police received a report of the theft of items including camera and computer equipment from a venue in Harley Street, W1. Enquiries into the circumstances are ongoing.

"Anyone with information that could assist police is asked to call 101 or ‘X’ @MetCC and quote 01/514588/24. You can also provide information anonymously to the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111."