"Imagine being a 12-year-old boy Richard,” he wrote. “Now imagine it's Christmas morning and you're sat there with your final present to open. It's a big one, and you know what it is. It's that Goodmans’ stereo you picked out of the catalogue and wrote to Santa about. Only you open the present and it's not in there. It's your hamster, Richard. It's your hamster in the box and it's not breathing. That's how I felt when I peeled back the foil.”