1. Pen-pals’
53-yr wait
PEN-pals have met for
the first time — 53 YEARS
after they began writing.
Eirwen Heath and
Susan Rowlands were
12-year-old schoolgirls
when they linked up.
The pair had parallel
lives — getting married,
having children and
becoming grandmothers.
But they never came
face-to-face — despite liv-
ing just 260 miles apart.
Finally the 65-year-olds
met at a half-way point.
Eirwen, of Swansea,
South Wales, said: “We’re
very similar.” Susan, of
Cleckheaton, West Yorks,
added: “It was lovely to
see her face and hug her.
She’s my oldest friend.”
A SOFT-touch judge has
spared a £39,000 benefits
cheat from jail because of
the COST.
Karmal Mustafa, 29,
conned income support,
council tax and housing
handouts for seven years
while still working.
He used the money to
fund two families — one
in Bristol, one in his
native Somalia.
But he walked free
from Bristol Crown Court
when Judge Carol Hagan
said the cost of jailing
him for a year would be
as much as he swindled.
Instead, she gave Mus-
tafa, 29, of Easton, Bris-
tol, a 24-week suspended
sentence — with NO order
to repay the money.
EXCLUSIVE
Fiddler in
jail let-off
THE best man of a soldier blown up in
Afghanistan has been arrested on suspicion
of stealing £85,000 from the newlywed.
Connor Aldous, 21, helped triple-amputee Pri-
vate Alex Stringer walk down the aisle on artifi-
cial legs when he wed his childhood sweetheart.
But it is alleged £35,000 of the £800,000 compensation
Alex received for losing both legs and his left arm has
been siphoned out of a
bank account. And a
£50,000 loan has never
been repaid.
Jobless Aldous, a former
school friend, had been
staying with Alex, 21, and
his wife Danielle, 20, in
Canvey Island, Essex. He
was arrested on Thursday.
Aldous, of Grays, Essex,
was bailed until October
pending further inquiries.
Devastated Alex told The
Sun: “We gave Connor
everything he needed. He
was like a brother to me.
“We trusted him and
gave him a roof over his
head.” Alex, of 23 Pioneer
Regiment Royal Logistics
Corps, trod on a Taliban
mine in January 2011. He
wed Danielle, who is
expecting a third child to
add to Millie, four and Har-
lie-Rose, one, this summer.
But he was later alerted
to up to eight withdrawals
a day from his bank
account over 12 months.
Police confirmed a man
aged 21 was held on suspi-
cion of theft. Aldous
refused to comment.
a.france@the-sun.co.uk
Trusted . . . Aldous,
left, helps amputee
Alex at his wedding
AGONY OF AFGHAN TRIPLE-AMPUTEEAGONY OF AFGHAN TRIPLE-AMPUTEE
By ANTHONY FRANCE
Crime Reporter
Best man ‘stole
£85kfromhero’
Shocked . . Alex with Danielle & Millie, 4
Tuesday, September 11, 2012 27