A MUM had precious photos of her disabled son stolen after a thief took her laptop computer from a library.

Kayley Smith had the laptop, which contained cherished pictures of her two-year-old son Jack, who suffers from cerebral palsy, stolen when she was in Southend Central Library, in Victoria Avenue.

She had put the laptop down on a table while in the library studying for a degree to become a child nurse.

Miss Smith, 24, of Lincoln Close, Southend, said: “The laptop’s not worth much, but there are pictures of Jack which I can’t replace. There are photos of his birthday and when he was born which I had never printed out. There were also documents because he has a lot of care plans. It’s just a nightmare, I can’t believe it.”

Jack was only discharged from hospital two weeks ago. He had been treated at Great Ormond Street Hospital where he recently had surgery to insert a line to help provide doctors with access to his veins in the future. But he contracted an infection and had to be taken into intensive care.

He has a nurse to help care for him five days a week and respite breaks at Little Havens hospice in Thundersley. But his mum had taken a rare break to leave him with a nurse while she went to the library.

She said: “I went to do some photocoping just three tables away. An elderly gentleman, who had been sitting opposite me, asked if it was mine because he thought someone had taken it. I ran down the stairs to the main reception and saw this young boy who had just taken his hat off. I said ‘you’ve taken my laptop’ but he said he didn’t have anything on him.”

The youngster then left the building at about 10.30am on Tuesday.

The laptop was a black Acer Aspire with serial number LXXATL0Y008851200252000. It had a white dongle attached. Anyone with information can call Southend police on 0300 3334444.