Ford replace watch stolen from former worker, 93, in Dagenham street theft

Eric Gilbert Archant

A 93-year-old man from Dagenham who has his Rolex watch stolen has been given a replacement timepiece by his former employers.

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Eric Gilbert Eric Gilbert

Eric Gilbert was targeted by a cowardly group of two men and three women in a car who had pulled over and asked him for direction in Ballards Road.

As the retired transport operations worker spoke to them one of the women tried to put a ring on his finger – and at the same time Eric realised one of the men was trying to steal his wedding ring.

He told them to leave him alone, and the car drove off – at which point he realised he was missing the Rolex watch which had been given to him by Ford in June 1985 for 30 years service.

Last week, Mr Gilbert was given a new watch by Ford after they heard what had happened to him.

The high-end Swiss-made Dreyfuss and Co timepiece has been engraved with his name and service dates.

Mr Gilbert, who retired 31-years-ago, said: “I promise you, no-one is going to nick this one off me.

“After all these years out of the company, I thought I’d be forgotten but this is wonderful, I am over the moon.”

Graham Edwards, European manager for Ford, said: “When we heard about the extremely unpleasant event that happened, everyone was very distressed about it.

“It’s a tragedy that this sort of thing can even happen in today’s society.

“We know this watch doesn’t replace the original timepiece exactly, but we care about our former employees and we were all so upset when we heard what had happened to Eric.”