Well - wishers who donated more than £65,000 to a man whose car was set alight during last week’s riot in Middlesborough will now be refunded. Brendan Nwabichie, 33, works as a carer at Clare’s Care Ltd. He saved for a year to buy a car, only to see it burnt to ashes by racist thugs. Nwabichie returned home from a 12-hour shift to find the remnants of his overturned vehicle outside his flat. The Nigerian, who is currently a Teesside University student, said he "went to the bathroom and cried" after seeing the burnt vehicle.

His employer set up a GoFundMe with the goal of £3,000 for a new vehicle. However, after Brendan’s story went viral, generous donors have seen the money rise up to more than £65,000. However yesterday, (10/8/2024) Clare’s Care stated in a new Go FundMe message that they planned to give Brendan part of the money raised for his vehicle, but everything raised over the initial goal of £3,000 would go towards other charitable causes and others affected by the riots. This left many donors outraged as they believe Brendan should received every penny of the donations proceeds. 

‍

In a new message posted today on the GoFundMe page, Clare’s Care has announced they will now refund all donations, citing concerns for their safety. The message reads: “Unfortunately, there has been some fake news released that Brendan would only be getting £3,000 of the money raised. Brendan requested the following: A Mercedes Benz SUV, insurance for the year, his rent paid for, for the year, his university fees paying for. He was not concerned to send any monies to charities nor his colleagues that were also affected by the riots.”

It continued: “Following this we made the decision to stop the go fund me page as we felt the money had reached more than enough for that, especially thinking logically that Brendan would struggle with the upkeep of such an expensive car given that he is a full time student and limited to the hours he can work in addition to that.”

“Unfortunately, ‘someone’ released news to the paper that we would only be giving Brendan £3,000 of the monies raised which resulted in our safety being jeopardised so we have made the decision to refund everyone’s money as we have not yet withdrawn it from go fund me. Thank you to the kind hearted people who donated. Lots of love, Clare.”

‍

The new message prompted even more condemnation from donors and well wishers who couldn’t understand why all the money was still not going to Brendan.

“This is 2024, employment does not mean ownership. It’s giving ‘if we can’t have the money, no one can’. The money was for him, and him alone. Their statement has only worsened their public perception,” one person wrote on The Shade Borough’s Instagram page.

“It’s HIS money, he was never obliged to share it with anyone,” a third agreed.

“’He was not concerned about sending the money to his fellow colleagues or the charities’ AS IF it’s his obligation. THE AUDACITY,” a third chimed in.

The part that made me angry is that THEY decided he couldn't maintain the up keep of that car, who asked them what does that even have to do with them???” a fourth person commented.

"This is outrageous! The donations were given specifically because people were inspired by him and his story, not by others affected by the riot. It should be entirely up to him to decide how to use the funds and maintain what he spends them on. Let the man have his money!" a fifth person wrote.

Clare's Clare has since deactivated their Facebook page and disabled comments on their Instagram page. All new donations on Brendan's GoFundMe page have now been paused.