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Red Laser helps Graham get back in the game

Box of delights: Graham Moss and Alvaro Arruda at Red Laser who have resupplied Graham with an Xbox after he had his last console stolen (Photograph provided)

A 14-year-old boy was stunned when his video game console was snatched from his hands by a thief.But Graham Moss said his faith in humanity was restored when staff at an electronics store gave him an upgraded model of the Xbox stolen by a man who posed as a buyer.Graham said: “I’m just so thankful. I really just couldn’t believe it.“When they called, it restored my faith in humanity. There are just so many good people out there.” Alvaro Arruda, of Red Laser, on Bakery Lane in Pembroke, said he had learnt about the theft on Facebook and contacted the family to help them track down the stolen game console.But he was met by a group of people who wanted to buy a replacement Xbox for Graham when he arrived at the store on Saturday morning and, after a talk with management, Red Laser decided to donate a top of the range Xbox themselves.Mr Arruda said the family “were ecstatic. They were happy. They just didn’t expect it.He added: “We like to go above and beyond for people, and emotionally it’s just really rewarding.”Graham said the theft happened after a planned sale of his old Xbox to a schoolmate fell through. He explained he wanted to sell his Xbox One S so he could upgrade to a more powerful Xbox One X.But when his friend changed his mind, he decided to put the game system up for sale on SnapchatGraham, from Paget, said: “Someone on my Snapchat texted me and said this guy wanted to buy it. He added me and we started messaging. “I suggested that we meet at Arnold’s Market on St John’s Road on Monday, but he said he really wanted it so I said we could meet on Friday.”The teenager said he went with friends to the meet with the buyer, who arrived on a motorcycle with a bandana over his face.Graham said: “I didn’t think too much of it because I have seen people ride like that.”He said the man pulled money from his pocket, but then grabbed the game console and sped away. Graham said: “I was shocked. I looked at my friends like ‘what happened?’ I went into the store to ask if they had CCTV cameras. They said to call the police, so I did.”Devon Moss, Graham’s mother, found out about the theft when her son called to tell her he was waiting for the police.She was so concerned, she posted the news to Facebook group MAJ’s List.Ms Moss said: “The reason I put it on social media was to let people know that this can happen. When the responses came, I was overwhelmed.”“Here were hundreds of comments within a matter of minutes.”Ms Moss added that she was hopeful that the thief would be caught — and added that if Graham’s Xbox was recovered the family would donate it to a community shelter or a deserving child.She said that her son had learnt two lessons from the experience.Mrs Moss added: “He has learnt that he cannot be so trusting and when you talk to people who you don’t know it can get you in trouble.“But on the other side, he also saw the kindness and generosity of so many people.”