A shirtless man who made it into the news after he was caught on camera nicking a plant from a woman's front garden has been forced to return it to its rightful owner.
Gemma Brady woke up on Friday (8 July) and was 'shocked' to discover that her beloved monkey puzzle tree had been stolen.
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The 44-year-old nurse was even more surprised to find that the horticultural heist had been caught on her doorbell camera.
Footage from her front door showed a shirtless man striding into her front yard and walking away carrying the large plant.
He then showed up the next day to explain that he'd woken up to discover the tree in his living room and was very sorry that he'd stolen it.
Promising to bring it back later after he'd completed a few jobs, the man explained that he was 'f*****g steaming' when he decided to make off with Gemma's plant and take it back to his house.
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Gemma said the entire affair had been 'ridiculous', and shared the footage of the horticultural heist online where it was quickly viewed by thousands of people.
The nurse suggested that she didn't entirely believe the man's story as: "It was 4.20 in the afternoon, he was wearing work clothes and my street isn’t on the way home from any pubs!"
She said: "He has been back since and said he was 'steaming' and his mate 'egged him on' but there is no way that was the case as he just carried it out with ease.
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"He told me his wife had given him a telling off because he was all over Facebook."
True to his word, the man who stole the plant has since returned it, as Gemma found it 'dumped' in her driveway on Monday (11 July) morning.
It was a little worse for wear, having ended up 'a bit bent', which is probably not a surprise considering everything it had been through.
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The man didn't use the doorbell to drop off the tree, and Gemma suspects 'he was feeling a bit camera shy' after videos of his previous antics ended up online and got him in trouble with his wife.
Gemma had been growing the monkey puzzle tree ever since it was a tiny seedling, and says she enjoys gardening as a way to relax.
She's just 'relieved' to have the plant back, although she's since had to move it somewhere else to keep it safe from future thieves who might decided to pilfer her plants.
Doorbell cameras can catch all sorts of weird goings on, including the time a guy sucked a bottle right in front of the camera only to realise the footage was being sent to his mum.
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Then there's the 'phantom farter' who made a habit of staring right into someone's camera and letting rip before grinning and nodding.
Topics: UK News
Joe Harker