THE HANDSET OF GOD
A MINISTER turned into a super-sleuth then put the fear of God into a thief who nicked his mobile. Reverend Bill Wishart locked his Samsung Galaxy Note 9 remotely and posted a message on the screen which said it belonged to a Church of Scotland minister and was essential for his work. He used an app to track the location of the device
BY JON HEBDITCH to a house in Johnstone, Renfrewshire, and told the police.
The minister of St Martin’s Parish Church in Edinburgh then posted a message, from his daughter Rachel’s phone, urging the thief to return the phone, adding it would be wiped and unsellable if it wasn’t returned.
The handset, which Bill accidentally left in a shopping trolley outside a B&M, was then found in a trolley at a nearby Asda store the following day.
Grandfather Bill, 54, who is also an amateur magician known as the “Minister of Magic”, said: “It’s great to get my phone back.
“For it to disappear from a trolley in one place and reappear in another trolley a mile away is my best trick yet. I reckon the thief panicked and realised the phone was too hot to keep.
“It wasn’t just the police looking for it – God was on the case, too.
“I’m very thankful to the guy in Paisley who found the phone and arranged for it to be returned to me.”
Bill says his community can now continue to get their “Daily Bread”.
He said: “My church works in partnership with Hovis, which has been supplying us with up to 250 loaves a week for the last four months.
“I was worried if I didn’t get my phone back, Hovis wouldn’t be able to get in touch with me easily and the bread delivery would be in jeopardy.”