A thief who left an American football legend feeling “totally gutted” by dismantling his stolen Hall of Fame ring to try to sell its gems has been jailed for more than two years.
Andre Reed, who played as a wide receiver for the Buffalo Bills in the 1980s and 1990s, reported the ring and other valuables, including passports, had been stolen from a room at London’s Leonardo hotel last October.
Gary Towsey, 39, was sentenced last week by inner London crown court to 25 months in prison after admitting charges of handling stolen goods and fraud. There was no evidence linking him to the Leonardo hotel break-in, but he also admitted a separate hotel burglary.
Towsey was captured on CCTV wearing Reed’s ring and a Gucci bag that had also been stolen from Reed’s room, as he entered a jeweller’s in Leeds. He tried to sell the ring, which was valued at more than £35,000. The jewellers refused because there was no manager there to authorise the sale.
Towsey then walked a couple of doors down to a pawnbroker, who also refused to buy it. But when he asked for the ring to be dismantled and handed back to him in parts, both shops helped to break it up for its jewels.
The next day suspicious staff at the jewellers contacted Reed on social media, when he confirmed the ring had been stolen. The information was then passed to City of London police.
Towsey was arrested the day after he was released from prison for another crime.
The gems have since been returned to Reed.
In a victim impact statement, he said: “My Hall of Fame ring was totally unique and meant so much to me. There was only one and it was so very special having been made and presented to me in recognition of all of my NFL sporting achievements. I am really proud of that and I cherished it as I know how much personal effort, hard work and sacrifice I had put into my playing career.
“I am now totally gutted that I will never see my ring again. It really upsets me at the thought of the ring being dismantled and sold on. I hope all those concerned are held responsible for their actions.
He added: “The ring is priceless, it was one of a kind and cannot be replaced. It is so unique and unusual that I am surprised it wasn’t identified for what it was. If you search the internet, you will easily find all of the details about it and lots of photographs. It would be impossible for somebody who stole it not to know what it was and the true value of it.”
Reed, 60, was in London for a Buffalo Bills game against the Jacksonville Jaguars at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. In a social media post about the burglary he said he felt “unsafe and violated”.
