Now thieves target second hospital's Christmas presents for sick children as wellwishers flock to Great Ormond Street to replace stolen gifts 

• Gang tore down decorations made by sick children on Staffordshire ward
• They took £1,000-worth of presents donated by well-wishers
  
• Follows theft of £2,000-worth of gifts from Great Ormond Street
• Those were replaced by donors including the Duchess of York

By Emma Reynolds

Published: 08:05 EDT, 19 December 2012 | Updated: 10:45 EDT, 19 December 2012

Callous thieves ransacked a hospital grotto and stole presents that had been donated by top footballers for sick children.

The raiders tore down decorations the seriously ill youngsters had made by hand for the playroom at the University Hospital of North Staffordshire's Children's Centre.

Thieves took around £1,000-worth of gifts, including Playstation, Xbox and Wii games and controllers in the overnight raid on Sunday.

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Heart-warming: Stoke City players Kenwyne Jones and Michael Owen donated computer consoles to University Hospital of North Staffordshire to be used by children at like nine-year-old Joe Harrison from Madeley - but it was stolen

Cruel: The thieves pinched presents from children like Esme Ray, pictured with footballer Glenn Whelan, left, and tore down their handmade decorations, pictured with aspiring matron Janet Hagan, right

Donations: All gifts stolen from Great Ormond Street have been replaced by an anonymous supporter, yet further gifts, such as these from last night, keep arriving

The selfish crime follows the theft of 20 donated presents worth £2,000 from Great Ormond Street Hospital in London.

That burglary, described as a 'disgusting crime beyond belief', prompted a full replacement by an anonymous donor and an avalanche of offers of help.

Last night, gifts came pouring in to Great Ormond Street from well-wishers, including the Duchess of York.

Now children at UHNS, aged between six and 16, have been left unable to play on computer equipment donated to the 'Adolescent Room' by players at Stoke City FC and have seen the hard work they put into Christmas preparations go down the drain.

Ex-England star Michael Owen, along with striker Cameron Jerome, donated the presents and played with the young patients when they took a tour of the hospital's children's ward.

Shocked staff at the hospital today branded the thieves 'sick', and said the time and effort put into the Christmas preparations by sick children could never be recovered.

Christmas crime: England manager Roy Hodgson and assistant coach Ray Lewington have a chat with children at Great Ormond Street Hospital yesterday, following the theft of £2,000-worth of presents

Last-minute good deed: Replacement presents donated to the hospital by an anonymous source are delivered to children in intensive care last night

Spreading festive cheer: Hodgson and football star Gary Neville sign a shirt for nurses during their visit to the shell-shocked hospital

Sister Julianne Wilkes said: 'To have someone steal all of the games and other equipment in the run up to Christmas is sickening.

'The games consoles were not taken as they are screwed into the secure unit, but they are worthless without any of the games and controllers.

'The theft is upsetting, but these items may be replaced by generous donations.

'What can't be replaced is the time and effort that our poorly children put in to make the playroom feel Christmassy.

'Although the centre is a locked down area, we haven't previously locked the playroom itself because we want the children to be able to come and go.

'This is something we might have to do in the future.'

Lynette Barlow, deputy manager for the UHNS Charity, appealed for help to replace the stolen equipment.

She said: 'I'm really saddened that this equipment has been stolen.

'You could see the smiles on the children's faces when they were playing the games against the Stoke City footballers.'

The thefts come after a gang of yobs broke into a secure facility at Great Ormond Street Hospital and took presents intended for sick kids.

London Police are combing through CCTV footage to identify the culprit, feared to be a member of staff at the Central London hospital.

The gifts were in a room secured with a key-code lock which the thieves ransacked, even taking the giftbags the presents were to be given to the children in.

Metropolitan Police Commissioner Bernard Hogan-Howe said he found it hard to imagine a worse crime.

'It's pretty disgusting really, isn't it? You can't imagine anything worse in a way: children who are very ill and at Christmas,' he told radio station LBC 97.3 yesterday.

'Somebody's taken the time to buy them something to cheer them up and somebody's stolen them. So it's pretty awful.'

Lord Sugar, Currys, Blockbuster and PC World offered to pay for new presents, with The Apprentice guru tweeting: 'Disgusting that xmas presents were stolen from @greatormondstreet kids. Replace them and send me the bill to @stylfile.'

VIDEO: Police desperate to find stolen presents before Christmas