‘My luggage was stolen while I was breastfeeding’

A woman who had her luggage stolen while breastfeeding her child at Gatwick Airport says her experience raises “serious concerns” about the site’s safety and design.

Kawtar Boudad Dupont, 31, was travelling with her two daughters, aged two and eight, on Thursday when she went into a baby changing room in the South Terminal to feed one of her children.

She said the room was so small she was forced to leave their luggage outside, but when she came out a few minutes later their belongings were gone.

Gatwick Airport said it was in contact with Sussex Police and was supporting its investigation into what happened.

It said the airport’s baby rooms were “designed to meet the needs of all passengers, with enough space for those travelling with luggage trolleys.”

Ms Dupont, from France, said the theft meant she had lost a memory card containing 10 years of “irreplaceable” family photographs, along with documents she needed to apply for a university degree.

“I had all my life in that suitcase,” she told the BBC, revealing she burst into tears when she realised her belongings had gone.

“[It] has been devastating, both emotionally and practically,” she said.

Ms Dupont added that her eldest daughter’s pink unicorn bag, filled with her “favourite toys”, was also taken.

“Who does that?,” she asked.

Ms Dupont said she had come to London for a short holiday because she had heard “lovely things” about the city and wanted to “chill out” after a difficult period for her and her family, but the experience had left her “shaken and disappointed”.

She said: “[How can] a supposedly safe space for mothers and infants be so poorly designed that it puts travellers in impossible situations – forced to choose between their security and their child’s care.”

Ms Dupont said she reported the theft to Sussex Police, though she claimed they were not able to identify the offender with the footage.

“If the police are not able to recognise suspects with CCTV, then what is the role of all those cameras in the airport,” she said.

Sussex Police has released a picture of a man they want to speak after the incident, which happened in Zone A between 15:00 and 18:00 GMT on Thursday.

He was wearing a distinctive bucket hat, an orange coat over a black hooded top, grey tracksuit bottoms and white trainers, according to officers.

The man left the area via the Southern Walkway towards the Forecourt, Ring Road, and the B2036 Balcombe Road, the force added.

The mother-of-two said she had lodged a formal complaint with Gatwick Airport, but their response so far has not addressed the “serious design and safety issues that made this situation possible”.

She urged people to “keep an eye” on their bags while at the site and avoid packing “precious” things.

“There is a big security issue at Gatwick Airport,” Ms Dupont said.

“We travellers need to feel safe”.