Quote:
Wrongly accused held for 70 years
A woman who spent 70 years in institutions after she was wrongly accused of theft has been reunited with her long-lost family.
Jean Gambell, now 85, was working as a cleaner in a doctor's surgery when she was accused of stealing 2s 6d - equivalent to twelve-and-a-half pence.
The cash later turned up but by then Jean had been sectioned.
Her two brothers found the sister they had thought was dead when a care home questionnaire came to their house.
Jean's mother died 25 years ago and her brothers, David and Alan, who were not even born in 1937, lost touch with her when they were split up.
David Gambell, now 63, from Wirral, Merseyside, said: "Last month I received a questionnaire from a care home in Macclesfield asking whether we were happy with it.
"It was addressed to my mother and I was just about to throw it in the bin as junk when I saw a name pencilled in the corner - Jean Gambell.
"I rang them and they said straight away our sister was there."
