Comic Iain has last laugh
COMEDIAN Iain Lee has praised a dog walker who found a stolen digital recorder after his car was broken into.
The stand-up and talkRADIO presenter had been with producer Katherine Boyle recording a show at the Three Minute Theatre venue in Afflecks Place on Oldham Street, Manchester on Saturday.
When 43-year-old Iain, the former host of Channel 4’s The 11 O’Clock Show, and Kath returned to their car – which had been parked in a city centre car park – the following morning, they discovered the back window had been smashed and an important piece of equipment – a specialist digital recording device called comrex – had been taken.
The recorder – worth £150 – had four episodes of podcast work on it that hadn’t been backed up.
Posting an image of the missing item to his 50,000 followers on Twitter, he urged: “If you’ve got info about this, please get in touch.
“No questions asked. £150. Taken from Hulme Street Manchester.”
But within a few hours of tweeting, he added: “Incredible. We found the comrex. In. Cred. Ible. I’m just off to collect it.”
Passerby Terri Loughman had found the recording equipment on the street next to Katherine’s stolen handbag.
She then turned detective by googling the producer’s name – which she found in the handbag – and discovered that she previously worked at the BBC.
Kind Terri decided to go to the BBC’s Northern headquarters at MediaCityUK to personally drop off the equipment and in turn talkRADIO staff were alerted, passing on the message to Iain who was reunited with the stolen device.
Iain told the M.E.N.: “Terri went above and beyond.
“She found it, Googled it, then drove to MediaCity. Just incredible.
“I’m humbled someone would do something so kind.
“It has restored my faith in humanity.”
Terri, 33, said: “I’ve had many strangers help me in the past at times of dire need and it’s taught me that no matter what happens in life that little bit of help that comes from others.
“Whether it be a stranger or a friend, a good deed can help restore your faith in people and make the situation seem less stressful.”