Conscience gets better of thief

A thief with a guilty conscience has handed back computer disks loaded with the vital work of a leading cancer research scientist.

The five disks were left in a private mail box outside a house in Lymington, Hampshire, and were then handed into police. The disks belong to Professor David Newell, 42, and contain vital research into new drugs for treating cancer patients. The professor, who was holidaying at Wimborne in Dorset when the disks were stolen from his car, leads a 20-strong group of scientists at the North of England Cancer Research Campaign based at Newcastle University.