Royal superfan camping out for Coronation has tent stolen, 'leaving him sleeping outside and scared to go to toilet'
4 May 2023, 19:56
A royal superfan whose belongings were stolen from his tent while he was camping out for the Coronation has said he is now "scared to go to the toilet".
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The tent of Patrick McCrossan, originally from Northern Ireland but now living in Chelsea, was stolen while he was waiting for the ceremony on Saturday - forcing him to sleep in a tent.
Mr McCrossan, 62, said he is now too scared to go to the toilet in case the thief strikes again.
The royal superfan told MailOnline he was "disgusted" by the theft, which also included a £659 GoPro camera that was a birthday present to himself, and various phone chargers.
The crime comes despite the Mall and the area around Buckingham Palace being at the centre of the largest police operation in recent memory, with 11,500 police officers on duty in London this weekend.
Mr McCrossan said: "My stuff got stolen - twice. I've got no tent now. I had to buy two new chairs and my tents gone, twice. I couldn't get it a third time.
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Asked if he had reported the incident to the police, he said: "No - I don't see any cameras anywhere. I think what it was was there were some guys, some people milling around. I've been to so many of these events over the years - I thought it was alright to say that I'm only going to the toilet.
"There were some that weren't open, so I went up towards Green Park to go to the toilet up there and I thought that would be fine.
"And when I came back, they were gone. And I thought 'oh s***, someone's gone off with my stuff'."
Mr McCrossan added: "My bag had phone chargers and all sorts of things in it and my GoPro. I bought my GoPro, £659, in March for my birthday and it was gone. I lost a lot of stuff.
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"I'd got myself a GoPro for my birthday because I go to that many interesting places and see interesting things.
Mr McCrossan said he was worried about leaving to go the toilet again.
He said: "If I get enough trust in people around me, even though they've just come, I think they're alright - but I've just got to be sure I can go away and feel that I'm not going to come back and it would be all gone."
Saturday's Coronation will see thousands of officers take to the streets of the capital, with officers on high alert following a number of security scares in recent days.
Read more: How much will King Charles's Coronation cost and who pays for it?
David Huber, 59, a dog breeder who posted tributes to the Queen after she died, was arrested after he allegedly threw suspected shotgun shells into palace grounds on Tuesday night.
He was later detained under the Mental Health Act.
