Tom and June Stone with the phone they think a youth tried to con them into handing over. (Picture by Steve Sarre, 0918768)

A RETIRED couple in the island to visit family were targeted by a suspected thief in Town on Wednesday.

Tom and June Stone, from Kent, were in the North Plantation looking for somewhere to eat when the boy approached them.

‘I’m not sure where he appeared from,’ said Mrs Stone, 67, a retired nursery nurse. ‘I didn’t really take notice. He was a nicely dressed boy and nicely spoken. He was about 12 or 13. He said: “Can I borrow your phone to call my dad? I can’t get in contact with him”.

‘Normally I would have let him borrow my phone, but I thought twice about it.’

Mr Stone, 63, who recently had a triple bypass, asked the boy for his father’s number, which he had trouble remembering.

‘When I rang the number it was a buzzing noise,’ said the retired driver.

‘I said to him: “This isn’t your dad’s number”. He was totally embarrassed and didn’t know what to say. Then he ran off.’

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