It’s Christmas all over again for Braden – thanks to HMV
Thursday 7th January 2010, 10:30AM GMT.
Braden Bougourd, 7, was yesterday given a new Xbox and games, including Guitar Hero, courtesy of HMV, who replaced items stolen from his home. (Picture by Tom Tardif, 0897980)
A SEVEN-YEAR-OLD’S smiles were restored when HMV replaced his stolen Christmas presents.
Braden Bougourd came home with mum Jayne, 24, after staying with relatives over the festive period to find their flat had been burgled.
The thief took his Xbox, new Wii and computer games, including Assassin’s Creed 2. In total, more than £800-worth of items were taken, including DVDs and a laptop.
The flat had been turned over and Braden was left devastated.
But HMV Guernsey director Jamie Ashington had an idea after reading the story in the Guernsey Press.
‘I thought it was something that HMV should be able to help out with. We’ve been here four years now and I thought it was an opportunity to help someone and if that cheers their Christmas up, then it’s worthwhile,’ he said.
Miss Bougourd said that when she was told that HMV wanted to donate the items, she could not believe it. ‘I want to show my appreciation,’ she said.
Asked about an online debate on www.thisisguernsey.com over whether Braden should have had Assassin’s Creed 2, a game recommended for over-18s – which had been stolen – Miss Bougourd said she did not have a problem with it.
‘He plays it at his dad’s. If it was too gory I wouldn’t have let him have it. He is supervised.’
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“If it was too gory I wouldn’t have let him have it” She can’t have seen it to make a statement like that and think its suitable for a 7 year old and if she does think it is ……..
Well let’s hope that HMV were a little more sensible.
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Fantastic job HMV Thank you!
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Cannot understand why a Mother would allow a 7 year old to have a game stated for over 18′s, very good the child has had his presents re-instated, just cant help feeling for the children of Parents who cannot afford half of what this one had for Christmas. Dont think this should have been highlighted as big news in the paper, spare a thought for the lower paid families who struggle to buy the more basic presents.
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Yes indeed; It shows that the human race isn’t dead or callous, such things give me a boost, for I Know hat it can mean to a lad like that,
HMV Your the tops. x
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Thank you very much to hmv who gave my nephew a xbox,guitar and five new games. There are still some decent people out there.whoever coco is had made the best and truest comment of all so why don’t people just leave them alone to get on with their life after such a devasting experince.Jayne is not the only parent out there that lets her child play computer games.There are parents out there who let their children play thmem they just won’t own up.
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@ Lisa
Lisa whilst I have every sympathy with the family and find the burglary deplorable you are missing the point that games of this nature are totally inappropriate for a child of 7 no matter what type of spin you try to put on it.
I hope that HMV have been sensible enough to supply games more appropriate to the child’s age
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I let my 7 year old play computer games, just not ones where you assinate people and cut their heads off. Just a thought.
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Thanks to HMV thank god the donkeys stopped kicking! ; )
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Yes, well done HMV. There are two stories within this article: the debate about the suitability of certain computer games for children and the burglary – it is important we differentiate between the two.
I am on record for disagreeing with the choice of computer games. However that is a matter for the parents and we should not allow that to detract from the the fact that a burglary happened, or that a lad had his Christmas presents stolen. The young lad in question is a child, not yet of sufficient maturity to know what games are suitable for his age group, he needs to rely on others for that information. He certainly does not deserve to have his possessions stolen, or told that the thief was “doing him a favour” – how callous.
Burglary is a terrible crime that is not just the theft of property, but the theft and violation of privacy and security. One is entitled to feel secure in their own home, a burglary cruelly steals that away. I am glad that, for young Braden, there is a happy ending to this story. Stealing the feeling of safety and security is a cruel thing to do to a young child. I hope that what HMV has done will help heal the scars of this traumatic experience. Happy Christmas young man!
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Well done Jamie at HMV. There ARE good people out there, shame there aren’t a few more like you.
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Congratulations to HMV for pulling this off. Excellent piece of PR, and now little Braden can get his life back on track. Hopefully HMV will continue to support needy children in the Channel Islands, even if it isn’t newsworthy. We can all now return to our lives and stop pointing out Jaynes parental shortcomings.
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Do people not have home insurance anymore then?
Perhaps we should adorn HMV with a big santa hat, except that would just be a blatant publicity stunt………oh wait……..
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Woodenspoon,
it is quite common for states house tenants not to have house insurance.
The minimum value requirement and the disproportionate cost of insuring contents only, make it something not high on the list of things to spend their money on.
I would have thought that this issue would have been sorted by the Housing Dept a long time ago, a rent premium and a group purchase?
Slightly off track…
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1. Parental choice and understanding if their kids can see the difference between reality and video games. My 10 yr old plays the game in question and is also expected to pass very easily his 11+.He knows its only a game and also now knows so much about WW2 from other games although not sure where the zombies came in
2. Burglers – total scum. Come into my home and I will have no hesitation to defend my family and sky sports with maximum force. If you left my home able to walk/see again you would be very lucky
3. Well done HMV. My boy had his gameboy stolen..any chance of another one :)
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Oh I don’t know about this whole situation. Poor boy has his presents stolen, then we find out some of them weren’t things he should have had in the first place. Then HMV replace his presents, which seems like a nice gesture until we start wondering whether it was a publicity stunt.
Aaaand then…. It occurs to me that this family, living in States Housing, has a 7 year old boy who had an Xbox, a Wii, a laptop, games, DVDs. These are all things I could not provide to my child even though my wife and I both work full time and have to pay for our own home. I don’t know, it just strikes me that, as sad and wrong as the initial burglary was, this whole case raises so many flags about the state of our society and the benefit system that the initial message has been well lost.
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I live near London and my contents insurance in £80 per year. Sorry, there is no excuse for not having contents insurance.
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Pleased at the outcome for this young lad. To all those who posted frankly nasty comments you should be ashamed of yoursleves, personal abuse in some cases.
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more than £800-worth of items were taken. Wow im a single mum I spent £70ish on my son this christmas and thats with putting some bills on hold and saveing. It wasnt easy and it doesnt sound like much but its the best i could do. My son doesnt have a xbox or wii he useing my have to bag some times to get working DS. How on earth did this single mum living in a state house afford all this??
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I was on the phone to my friend last night (she’s 19) who was playing the game at the time she said “as much as my nephews like playing Xbox games i’d never let them play this, the eldest is 10!!! It is a bit of a gory game but for people over 18 its fine, at 7 though, i’d think again!
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Have to agree with truth man, does bring into focus the whole benefit system, it does appear that although in States housing and not able to afford necessities such as house hold insurance the young lad does have an awful lot of expensive items for a seven year old. I know that when my kids were that age we could not afford to spend that sort of money on the kids and pay all the bills, mortgage and taxes.
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Living in a states house and being able to afford £800 for christmas present…….now my salary is in the high twenties, I rent my own home and I couldn’t afford anywhere near that. Especially if I had a kid. It makes you wonder what the criteria are.
Paul – noone is being ‘personally abusive’ and no, we shouldn’t be ashamed at ourselves for questioning the integrity of the ‘system’ we all seem to submit to day by day. If anything we should be questioning MORE in light of recent scandals.
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I agree with you Business Bloke. The key word there is taxes. We pay the taxes that pay her rent.
If we paid a bit more tax perhaps she could afford some insurance?
HMV have come out of it quite well though.
E. The other one.
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All of you that are dissing me .take a step back i think that my son and i are the victims of a burglary instead of going on about the game give a little sympathy to the boy in question and go back to you own lifes instead of intervering with other peoples .by the way as my dad said myself and his dad are no longer together so he has presents from us both. It was 800 pound of stuff takin. his christmas stuff got taken and otherbelongings that was 800 pounds worth in total that was taken.
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