Public gather for unveiling of restored Paddington Bear statue after drunken yobs broke it in half
A PADDINGTON Bear statue is serenaded by a schoolboy at his unveiling — restored after being ripped in two by drunken vandals.
Well-wishers gathered in his creator Michael Bond’s home town of Newbury, Berks, to see the marmalade sandwich-loving Peruvian fully repaired.
Police who found his missing half posed for a snap with the fictional favourite before locals took their turn.
Anthony George, 64, immortalised Paddington by getting him tatooed on his leg after being left “absolutely devastated” by his statue being damaged.
He said: “I’m very proud of it. I just want to symbolise what a wonderful fictional character Paddington is. I grew up with Paddington, so it means a lot.”
Dominika Zydron, 39, attending with her two children Joanna, nine, and Stasiu, four, said: “We came here especially to see him and welcome him home. We are very excited.
“We walk by this road every single day and say hello to Paddington, so when he was missing it was very sad for us.”
Inspector Alan Hawkett, from Thames Valley Police, said the success of the investigation into the vandalism came from “a real community effort”.
Marc Giles and Ty Cosway, from the Special Constabulary team, worked for 15 continuous hours to retrieve the statue’s broken half.
After posing for a picture with Paddington, a little boy hugged them and said: “Thank you for bringing him home.”
The statue located in the hometown of Paddington’s creator Michael Bond is one of 23 across the UK and Ireland as part of the Paddington Visits Trail.
RAF engineers Daniel Heath and William Lawrence, both 22, admitted criminal damage and had to pay £2,725 each.