2020 November 12 – Leicestershire Press

‘Willy Wonka’ of Hinckley goes on chocolate spreading spree

By Alexander Hodgkins-Jones

A mystery Good Samaritan has been bringing a little bit of happiness to the people of Hinckley by leaving sweet treats on car windshields this month.

The generosity has occurred in the run up to Kindness Day UK on Friday(NOV13).

‘Wispas’ of the unknown individual have been shared on Facebook with the chocolate spreader striking at least twice in the last week.

The random acts of kindness appear not so random with a bar of Dairy Milk chocolate found on a car on Tuesday last week, subsequently followed by a bar of Galaxy last Friday morning.

It seems likely that more lucky confectionary beneficiaries may be out there.

Signed by “A stranger”, the chocolate has brought happiness to Hinckley residents

The ‘Kinder’-hearted soul left both bars with hand-written notes explaining they wanted to spread happiness during “these hard times”.

Hinckley resident Christine was thrilled to discover the out-of-this-world treat on her car last Friday and shared her find online hoping the person would see her appreciation.

“It was such a lovely thing to do and I really was thankful for it,” she said.

In an online post, the recipient of the Dairy Milk described the ‘Boost’ it had given them ahead of the then looming national lockdown.

“I will be doing the same for someone else,” they wrote.

With ongoing tensions due to the coronavirus pandemic, the need for community kindness is needed more than ever.

Kindness UK encourages people to get involved by doing their own random act of kindness for others and last year handed out more than 10,000 free chocolate bars at London Train Stations.

It is not known if the Hinckley’s Willy Wonka is involved with the group, with some people online suggesting the chocolate spreader has been at large for many months.

Whatever the case, they have certainly brought a smile to residents of Hinckley during November.

If you think you’ve been struck by the Willy Wonka of Hinckley please email alexhj@outlook.com.

DMU police officer leads city colleagues to £4,000 heroin bust

By Alexander Hodgkins-Jones

A De Montfort University police officer helped city force colleagues make a £4,000 drugs bust on Monday afternoon (NOV9) after spotting someone acting suspiciously on campus CCTV.

A male suspect was arrested in Castle Gardens on a number of drugs related charges and £4,000 worth of heroin was seized after the eagle-eyed DMU officer led colleagues to him.

The bust involved a drugs dog and was part of an ongoing national anti-knife campaign called Operation Sceptre.

£4,000's worth of Heroin was removed from a male on today's #OpSceptre operation.

He was spotted on CCTV by our @dmuleicester officer who was able to lead the team to him.

He's now in custody & these drugs are out of circulation. #Teamwork #Thedrugsdontwork #Updatetofollow pic.twitter.com/a8sgWlQBR5
— Leicester City Police (@LPCityCentre) November 9, 2020

“What people don’t realise is the quality of CCTV is getting better and better,” said the officer, who wished to remain anonymous but who has 14 years of experience with the force.

“When I started, it was VHS tapes and you were lucky if you could pick anyone out, now the quality is unbelievable.”

DMU cameras cover much of the campus and has made spotting suspicious activity “easier than it ever was” according to the officer.

“Criminals don’t realise how good it is and I’m good at spotting ‘stuff’ taking place,” he said.

A passive drugs dog was able to confirm the suspicions of the DMU officer by indicating the man had been in contact with an illegal substance which allowed Leicester City Police to move in and make the arrest.

The Leicester City Police Twitter account praised the DMU officer for his role in the arrest, calling it a great example of teamwork.