A mother from Wymondham has described the 'gobsmacking' moment thieves returned cash stolen from her handbag, thanks to a keen-eyed Five Guys employee.
Jill Horne, 51, from Wymondham, was enjoying a rare date night with her husband at Five Guys on Orford Place in Norwich, when she realised her handbag had been snatched.
The Wymondham carer said she went cold with panic and reported the incident to a restaurant staff member.
On checking the CCTV footage, the employee spotted a young man bundle Mrs Horne's bag into his rucksack, before leaving with a group of friends.
Mrs Horne reported the incident to police and a couple of hours later received a call letting her know the bag had been handed into Bethel Street police station.
But to her dismay, £20 was missing from her purse.
She said: "I felt deflated. That's a fair bit of money to us and we were meant to be using it to go to the cinema for a treat. The night was spoiled."
Once home, the couple wrote an online review for the restaurant, thanking the staff for their help and sharing their phone number should they need to get in touch.
A week later, the general manager called Mrs Horne with some unexpected news.
The thieves had returned to the restaurant and were spotted by the same employee who had checked the footage.
She and the general manager confronted the group, who initially denied the incident.
But once they discovered the police were involved they agreed to return the money.
Mrs Horne said: "I was absolutely gobsmacked and over the moon. It restored my faith in people. They didn't need to do that but they wanted us to leave with a positive experience."
On top of reuniting the Wymondham carer with the cash, the restaurant treated the couple to a free burger each.
Mrs Horne, who took in a box of chocolates to thank the staff for their help, added: "The staff deserve recognition for what they did for us. We couldn't have asked for better."
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