Penarth shopkeepers fall victim to £30,000 burglary (From Penarth Times)

Penarth shopkeepers fall victim to £30,000 burglary

7:50am Thursday 2nd February 2012 in News By Robert James Owen

A SHOPKEEPING couple suffered a ‘heartbreaking’ ordeal last week – when they were victims of a distraction burglary which saw more than £30,000 worth of jewellery and money stolen from their home.

Mike and Priya Patel, owners of Patrick’s News Agents at the corner of Plassey Street and High Street, were in the shop as normal last Tuesday afternoon (January 24) when a group of ten men and women entered.

While eight members of the gang kept the couple busy buying chocolate and asking about bottles of wine, two others managed to gain entry to their home above the shop.

They stole £3,000 in cash and valuable personal items worth more than £25,000 - in what the couple have called their ‘worst nightmare come true’.

Mike, who set up the shop 25 years ago, said the burglary – at around 2.15pm – has had a profound effect on them both, as well as on their 13-year-old son.

“I feel like I can’t leave my wife alone in the shop, and we have all had trouble sleeping,” he said.

“Our son has been terribly ill with the stress."

Wife Priya added: “We are all still very scared."

The pair say they had their suspicions as soon as the group entered the store, and Mike moved quickly to close the door that leads from the shop to their flat above.

But he was then distracted by the customers.

“One man repeatedly asked me to show him the wines on the other side of the shop, and two of them were milling around near the door I had just closed,” he said.

“We think they sneaked through and unlocked the front door of the property, so that others waiting outside on the street could get upstairs, take what they wanted and escape without us noticing.”

Priya said she was ‘heartbroken’ at the theft.

“It’s all our hard work undone in one afternoon,” she said.

“It's the worst thing to happen at the shop – our worst nightmare come true.”

Mike said he wanted to warn other shopkeepers about the group, as he has since heard about similar incidents in Cardiff.

“The way they did it was definitely planned," he said.

"They would choose one item at a time and place it on the counter, and insisted on paying for items seperately, keeping us occupied withchange.

“They were communicating in a language unknown to me. It wasn’t English whatever it was.”

Local resident Max Scott-Cook called it a ‘despicable crime’.

“It’s disgusting. Mike and Priya are lovely, family people just trying to make a living and they don’t deserve this,” he said.

“They need to be protected and as a community we need to rally around our shopkeepers."

A police spokesman said: "South Wales Police attended an address on Plassey Street after receiving reports of a burglary at approximately 2.15pm on January 24.

“A quantity of high value jewellery and cash was taken from the premises.

“We are investigating the incident.”

Anyone with information is asked to contact Barry CID on 101, or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.