Praise for cash hero

A good Samaritan who handed in almost £1,000 in cash to police after finding a pouch in the street has been praised for his honesty.

Karl Kellner, aged 25, found the cash in the Queensville area of Stafford in November.

The money, £985 in total, was inside the camera-sized pouch, owned by a diabetic woman, also from the Queensville area of the town.

She lost the blood monitoring pouch near her home on November 11 and believed she would never see it again. But Mr Kellner discovered the cash and immediately reported it to police.

PCSO Andrea Bell from Stafford police station did a little detective work and was able to trace the owner.

Using a receipt found inside the wallet for a parcel, which had been posted at Silkmore post office, PCSO Bell used the telephone number of the delivery firm on the receipt – and the company helped to locate the woman.

The husband of the delighted woman, who asked not to be named, said: "On behalf of my wife I'd like to thank the honest person who had the decency to hand in a lost diabetic pouch which contained a large amount of cash."

Mr Kellner, who works as a graphic designer, said he found the pouch in the road outside his home as he returned to work, and at first thought it was a pair of gloves or something similar but when he picked it up he realised it was a diabetic pouch which also contained a lot of money.

Mr Kellner said it was a "no brainer" to do the honest thing and report it to police.

He said: "I knew someone was going to be looking for it. It was a lot of money and it wasn't mine to keep. I thought it might be someone's money for Christmas or to pay their bills. I couldn't live with the thought of a child not getting any presents.

"Everyone would do the same thing. I don't think I did anything special and I can sleep better knowing the person has got it back."

He said he was surprised by the attention his good deed was attracting.

The couple were reunited with the cash a few days ago and yesterday when Mr Kellner returned home there was a thank you card and a £50 cash reward waiting for him.

He said: "I didn't do it for any kind of reward but it's very nice of them and I am happy to accept it."