Brazen raider steals phones worth £1,500

CCTV footage of a break in at The Phone Hub, Peel Street, Chadderton, Tuesday, August 15, 4am

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A NEW Chadderton business has been left counting the costs after a man smashed through shutters and a window to steal mobile phones earlier this week.

The Phone Hub, on Peel Street, was shocked to discover that the thief had taken 12 state-of-the-art mobile phones, worth £1,500, and caused another £1,500 worth of damage during the break-in on Tuesday morning.

However it was only when owner Mohammed Rahman checked his CCTV cameras that he saw the lengths the thief had gone to in order to get his loot.

Mohammed, who only opened the business three months ago, said: "The footage shows that he spent around 25 minutes trying to get through the shutters, pulling at them and kicking them.

"He seemed to know the road well as whenever a car came past he would react and walk away before coming back."

Once he gained access to the shop he spent mere minutes inside, heading straight behind the counter and picking up some of the top-of-the-line phones available.

Mohammed said: "He knew which phones he wanted and knew to go straight for them."

The police were called and the forensic team have taken a sample of blood found at the scene, believed to be from the thief as he may have injured himself while breaking in.

The shop are now hoping that people will see the CCTV footage and provide the police with information if they spotted the incident or recognise the perpetrator.

Mohammed continued: "We are lucky in that we have really good CCTV around the shop and the footage is very clear.

"Hopefully someone will recognise him and get in touch with the police."

He added that although the shop has insurance, they have been deeply affected by the break-in.

"We were absolutely devastated," Mohammed said.

"We have been working hard to build up the business over the past three months but this has hit us hard.

"It isn't something we had set aside money for so soon after opening.

"We had to close the shop for a while on Tuesday as there was so much damage.

"There was glass everywhere and the shutters had to be repaired.

"But we will continue to trade."

The incident took place at around 4.15am on Tuesday. Anyone with any information is asked to contact the police on 101.