A former soldier wept with joy after an engagement ring belonging to his late fiancée was returned to him after a break-in – along with an anonymous note that read: ‘Sorry’.
Darren Horsnell, who served in the Falklands War, had been on a fishing trip in September when he came home to find his back door stoved in.
The 62-year-old was heartbroken to find that an engagement ring belonging to his late partner Tracey Vick had been stolen from its resting place on top of her ashes after she died of cancer during the pandemic.
Mr Horsnell, who now teaches art to other veterans in his town of Haslingden, Lancashire, put out an appeal on social media urging the thief to do the right thing – which they eventually did, posting it with a note reading: ‘Darren Sorry’.
While touched to have the ring back, Mr Horsnell is now hoping to find out who too it – with police examining the note for fingerprints in the hope of identifying the crook.
Veteran Darren Horsnell and his fiancée Tracey Vick, who died of an aggressive form of cancer in September 2020
The ring, set with an amethyst stone and diamonds, had been resting atop Ms Wick’s ashes in his house in Lancashire
The note was eventually returned to him anonymously by someone who posted it through the letterbox of the charity where he teaches art to other veterans
And he suspects that he knows the person responsible – because they appeared to strike on purpose when he was out for the fishing trip, which he had publicised on his Facebook profile.
The ring was dropped through the letterbox of Veterans In Communities, where Mr Horsnell works as an arts manager, earlier this month.
He had offered a £2,300 reward in exchange for the ring’s return – but it was dropped into the charity anonymously with no expectation of payment.
Mr Horsnell told the Mirror: ‘I looked in the envelope and it was her ring. I broke down because I never thought I’d see that again. That ring means the world to me as it did to Tracey.’
Police are checking the note for fingerprints but suspect the cack-handed handwriting is as a result of the person responsible writing it with their non-dominant hand in a bid to avoid being identified.
He added: ‘I can’t believe that person stole it in the first place. They had no conscience, no feelings, no thought about what it might do to somebody.
‘Some good came of it in the end – everybody sharing it, the whole community coming together, people who don’t know me. That restores your faith in mankind, and the fact I’ve got it back and it’s back with Tracey and it’s going to stay with her.’
Mr Horsnell came home on September 22 – the fourth anniversary of fiancée Ms Vick’s death – to find his home ransacked.
The ring – set with an amethyst gem and diamonds – had been taken from atop Ms Vick’s ashes, which were clearly marked with a memorial card bearing her name.
Among the other items stolen were an iPad and a charm bracelet belonging to Tracey – to which he had been adding charms for 15 years.
Mr Horsnell and Ms Vick had been childhood sweethearts at school in London – before becoming estranged when he enlisted in the British Army.
But the power of the internet brought them back together in 2001 and on his 50th birthday in 2012 he proposed to his sweetheart with the ring.
She had been eyeing it up in a local jewellers beforehand – making the surprise even more delightful for his fiancée.
But in September 2020 she died aged 56 after being diagnosed with an unknown aggressive cancer for which doctors had been unable to find a source.
Taking to social media on October 17, nine days after the ring was returned, Mr Horsnell had written: ‘There are no words that I can think of to say how honoured and overwhelmed I was that so many helped in securing the return of Tracey Vick’s engagement ring.
‘Thank you is not enough. Without the help of friends and family, the staff, and members of Veterans in Communities I would have never seen the ring again.
‘I choose my words carefully, but you can imagine how many people who have been burgled feel when some disgusting low life breaks into your home and riffles through your possessions.’
He plans to eventually let go of the ring with Tracey’s ashes when they are scattered with wild dolphins, as per her wishes.
