Thomas taunted over gnome thefts

We all love a good practical joke and with April Fools Day coming up we'd better all be wary of potential pranks catching us out.
Thomas and GnormanThomas and Gnorman
Thomas and Gnorman

But Luton resident Thomas Watson may be getting a little short on patience by the time Friday rolls around as he’s probably suffered enough already thanks to a gnome thief.

Thomas, 20, who works as a team leader at Dixons in Luton Airport, decided to buy himself a garden gnome just over a week ago and christened it Gnorman. The next day he purchased his wife Gnorma as well.

Then the trouble began!

No place like gnomeNo place like gnome
No place like gnome

Thomas, a qualified masseuse, said that somebody crept into his front garden and stolen poor Gnorman, but left Gnorma behind. He was then taunted on Facebook with pictures of his missing friend taken from around Luton.

He explained: “The next evening I received a Facebook friend request, but this wasn’t any old schoolmate or work colleague, this was my gnome!

“Somebody had taken it and started to post photos of it around Luton, at pubs and in bed!

“To an extent I was relieved that he was still alive, but another part of me was frightened as I’d maybe never see him again.”

Gnorman in the town centreGnorman in the town centre
Gnorman in the town centre

Facebook group LadBible picked up on the prank which led to several national papers posting articles on the gnome pages of their websites!

Thomas, from the Crawley Green Road area, added: “Eventually it all came out that the culprit was one of my work colleagues named Dale and his girlfriend Lasma. This was so unexpected because he is normally the shy, quiet, keeping everything to the books kind of guy! Once discovered he returned gnome home in one piece to live happily ever after.”

BUT... less than a day later Gnorman was taken again!

Thomas told me yesterday: “Only last night I received a strange phone call from a blocked number saying “I’ll be back” in a leprechaun’s kind of voice, so I’m sure that I’ll be seeing him again really really soon...”

If Gnorman keeps getting pinched I really think it’s time to take out gnome insurance.

> This is an extract from the Simply Sims column which appears in the Luton News every Wednesday.