News

Half naked thief stole seven flat screen TVs

By Mike Pyle
July 01, 2010

A brazen thief wearing just a pair of shorts and some black gloves stole seven flat-screen TVs and irreplaceable boxing memorabilia from a house in a calculated burglary.

The scantily-clad raider broke in to a house in Folders Lane, Garth, at around 7.10pm on Friday, June 25.

Once inside the thief took a 50inch Panasonic plasma TV, two 42inch TVs and three 37inch Samsung TVs as well as a frame containing a framed photo of the boxer Ricky Hatton, a Ricky Hatton t-shirt and cap and a fight ticket all worth around £5,500.

The memorabilia all belong to the homeowner and his wife, who do not want to be named, who went on the trip of a lifetime to Las Vegas to see Ricky Hatton fight Floyd Mayweather in December 2007.

The raider took the items to the back of the house where he passed them over a wall in broad daylight to two accomplices waiting in Folders Lane in a red Ford Fiesta-style car who took them away.

The owner of the house rents it out to Bracknell-based company Cable & Wireless which uses it to house staff and visitors.

The owner said: “It’s a bit grim. It’s not very nice for something like this to happen.

“I rent the house out to them [Cable & Wireless] fully furnished so it’s all my stuff that they’ve taken.

“They don’t use it over the weekend so someone must have been watching and figured that out.

“I’m a big boxing fan. We got [the memorabilia] when we were in Vegas and my wife put it in a big box frame for me.”

The owner has CCTV installed in the house and the film shows the thief, who is about 30, of medium build and was just wearing shorts and black gloves, taking the property.

The trio took the items in two trips, first coming at around 7.10pm and then at around 9.30pm.

Burglary investigator Bob Strong said: “We believe that a red car was used by the burglars to transport these items.

“Folders Lane is a quiet residential road and I would appeal to anyone who noticed suspicious activity or a red vehicle parked in the street at the time to come forward as they may be able to assist with our investigation.”

Call Bob Strong on 08458 505 505. If you don’t wish to speak to police or leave your name you can speak to the charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

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