A MOTHER has made a heartfelt plea for the return of a stolen memento of her young daughter who died from a genetic condition.

Raiders broke into the home of driving instructor Shamshad Hanif in a daytime burglary and ransacked the rooms.

The intruders made off with a number of items, including a collection of passports.

Among them was one which had belonged to her daughter Aisha, who died from Sanfillipo Syndrome two weeks before her 13th birthday.

Mrs Hanif, 38, said the passport was irreplaceable.

"It is of no value to the burglars, but to me and my family it is priceless," she said. "It has memories of our daughter that we hold on to.

"We got the passport for Aisha for a trip to Pakistan to see her grandparents about three years before she died. It was the only time she went out of the country, so the passport has special memories. It means so much to us.

"The burglars took about 15 passports, but none of the others matter, just this one."

The raid took place on Thursday, January 22, at Mrs Hanif's home in Killinghall Drive, Undercliffe, Bradford. She came back to the house to find the dining room door window had been smashed by the intruders to get in. The house had been searched, locked bedroom doors broken, and items stolen including a laptop computer and a bracelet bought for her daughter Aamina's 18th birthday.

Her husband, Mohammed Hanif, 48, a taxi driver, was at work at the time, but her father-in-law, 89-year-old Abdul Rehman, slept through the break in.

Mrs Hanif said: "He was in the back room and was oblivious to everything. They must have seen him through the patio doors, but he was unharmed."

She said Aisha had been a fun loving child with a "beautiful contagious smile."

She said: "If she smiled at you, you had to smile back. The only thing I needed to get through the day was to see her smile."

Mrs Hanif added: "Anything else that was stolen can be replaced, but that passport I can never replace.

"If anyone knows what has happened to it, please try to get it back to me. Leave it anywhere - at a police station, post office, or post it back to me."

Detective Constable Dean Patterson, of Bradford District CID, said: "We would like to hear from anyone who saw any suspicious activity in the Killinghall Drive area of Undercliffe between 9.05am and 10.30am on Thursday, January 22.

"Our inquiries lead us to believe that a man on a silver bike was seen near the property at about 9am that day, and we would like to speak to anyone who might have seen this man, who might have headed towards Swires Road or Pollard Lane.

"A number of passports and other travel documentation were stolen in this burglary, so I would urge anyone who is offered such documentation to contact Bradford District CID on 101, or Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111."

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