Sheffield boxer fuming after burglars raided his parents' house

Burglars broke into the home of Ross Burkinshaw’s parents on Wednesday afternoon as the bantamweight’s father, Garry Burkinshaw, was out at work.

The burglars gained access to the couple’s home in Manchester Road, Deepcar by breaking a pane of glass in the back door.

War medals and priceless jewellery passed down for generations are among the many items taken in the raid, and ‘Ross the Boss’ says he is determined to track down the culprits and bring them to justice.

The former English Super Flyweight Champion said: “Stealing war medals is the lowest of the low. They left laptops and other things like that and took war medals that belonged to my uncle who was in the Royal Navy. They can’t get this stuff back now. Who would do that? My parents have worked hard all their life for what they’ve got and then someone comes in and takes that all away.

“They also took about £400 in cash that my dad was saving to take my mum on a cruise for her 60th birthday, and that’s been ruined now.

“Anyone who knows me knows I don’t let things go, and I’m not going to stop until I’ve got their stuff back.”

After Garry and his wife, Dale, discovered the break-in on Wednesday afternoon, Garry, aged 58, got so upset that he smashed his hand through the broken window and sliced his finger in the process.

“We were cleaning up, and he got angry and started saying, ‘why me’,” added Ross, aged 29.

“He put his hand through the glass, and cut his thumb so badly that he’s had to have an operation on it.

“I had to take him to the hospital on Wednesday night and haven’t been able to sleep since it happened. “

Ross, a former soldier, shared an appeal on his Facebook page for information on Wednesday, and since then over 1,200 people have shared his plea for information.

Ross is offering a reward for anyone who can return the items to him and wants anyone with information to get in touch via his social media pages.

Other items taken in the break-in include power tools and a television.

n Anyone with information is asked to call South Yorkshire Police on 101 quoting incident number 735 of May 4, 2016.