Shocking moment masked gang make off with £500,000 worth of jewellery
EXCLUSIVE: Shocking moment masked gang make off with £500,000 worth of jewellery and Rolex watches after spending ELEVEN MINUTES trying to load a 750kg safe into their Ford Focus getaway car
- CCTV footage shows a gang of thieves raid a jewellery firm in Surrey last Monday
- They stole a 750kg safe containing cash and luxury Rolex watches worth £500k
- Young owners of jewellery firm, 247 Kettles, say they not insured for loss of stock
This is the dramatic moment that a gang of four thieves made off with almost half-a-million pounds worth of jewellery and watches after loading a 750kg safe into a Ford Focus.
The raid on a ‘secure’ business park in Egham, Surrey, took place just after midnight last Monday, devastating the young owners of the jewellery firm who were not insured for loss of stock.
Unable to enter the gated complex that is home to firms including Samsung, the raiders took their car off road, cut through the fence of an adjoining park and then through a second fence leading into the Meadlake Place Business Centre’s car park.
CCTV footage shows three of the men, wearing balaclavas and overalls and armed with sledgehammers and crowbars, smash through two sets of glass doors leading into the lobby of 1 Meadlake Place.
This is the dramatic moment a gang of four thieves were caught on CCTV raiding small jewellery firm, 247 Kettles, in a ‘secure’ business park in Egham, Surrey last Monday
The men then ran up the fire escape stairs to the first floor where they crashed through a 300kg wooden security door before bludgeoning their way into the offices of jewellery firm 247 Kettles.
The firm’s co-founder Conor Thornton said: ‘We had bought a safe weighing 750kg for our stock and as we were on a locked business park with 24 hour security, we thought that would make us impenetrable.
‘In the event, they used a sledgehammer to smash our floor to ceiling windows and then shoved the safe out onto the road below.’
The CCTV footage shows some smaller boxes landing on the road outside before the mighty safe, containing watches and jewellery worth £400,000, hit the deck with a puff of dust.
The men used a sledgehammer to smash through two sets of glass doors and make off with £10k in cash and a 750kg safe containing luxury Rolex watches and jewellery worth £500k
Footage shows the thieves wearing balaclavas and overalls and armed with sledgehammers and crowbars, smash through two sets of glass doors
They crashed through a 300kg wooden security door before bludgeoning their way into the offices of jewellery firm 247 Kettles and threw the 750kg safe out the window (right)
The thieves, who had directed their getaway driver to the side of the building, then spent 11 minutes trying to heave it into the Ford Focus.
Their initial plan to load it into the boot was foiled because, even with the help of a trolley, they were unable to lift it.
In the end, they managed to shove a bit of it into the passenger footwell at the rear of their car which sagged under the weight, as they drove off with the door flapping open.
Mr Thornton, who only launched the business in March, said he was not alerted to what had happened until two hours after the burglary.
He said: ‘The business park locks its gates at night but it seems they went off-road, cut down two fences to the greenery surrounding the businesses and got in that way.
The thieves had directed their getaway driver to the side of the building at Meadlake Place Business Centre and spent 11 minutes trying to heave the 750kg safe into the Ford Focus
‘When I got down there, I saw glass everywhere by the entrance and then when I got to our office on the first floor my heart just sank.
‘They had completely trashed the place, the windows had been smashed out and all our stock was gone.
‘The CCTV picked up a blurry image of the registration plate but it seems that it does not relate to the vehicle they were driving which was a dark grey Ford Focus.
‘This was very much targeted at us because we share the block with about 50 other little businesses but they knew what they were after.
Their initial plan to load it into the boot was foiled because, even with the help of a trolley (pictured), they were unable to lift the heavy safe but managed to shove a bit of it into the passenger footwell at the rear of their car and drove off
The devastated young owners of the jewellery firm, 247 Kettles, who only launched their business in March, say they not insured for loss of stock
‘They not only got away not only with the safe but also £10,000 in cash and boxes of bangles worth £20,000.
‘It is devastating for us. They got all our physical stock and our insurance doesn’t cover that. We thought we’d be safe because the business park seemed so secure and then having a 750kg safe we thought nobody could walk out with that.
‘I can’t believe nobody spotted them because they could not close their passenger door but so far the police have given us no updates at all. It seems the case has already gone cold.’
The thugs are believed to have exited the way they entered which was through the park and onto Ambleside Way then to Keswick Road before joining the B388 which runs from Egham to Chertsey in Surrey.
Mailonline contacted the HubSpace Management Company which is responsible for the business park but they said they were unable to comment.
Surrey Police were also asked to comment.
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