Police probe after Old Street pub broken into and ransacked

Ade Frape and his wife Romy recently moved to the UK from California, after acquiring the lease for the pub at 44 Old Street formerly known as The Gibson.

The couple have spent the last three months re-decorating the interior of the pub, as well as stocking it with glassware and alcohol, and hoped to open it under a new name – The Mad Hatter – in early May.

Ade Frape outside The Gibson, soon to be renamed The Mad Hatter (Image: Romy Frape)

But late last Thursday evening (April 11), the pub was broken into by an unknown group, who made off with “almost everything”.

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Ade told the Gazette that the pub was littered with cigarette butts when he visited on Friday (April 12) and that there was residue of white powder on some of the picture frames.

He said: “These guys have trashed the bar. They were smoking cigarettes and they were obviously doing drugs as well.

“They took one of the picture frames and used it as like a cocaine mirror.

“You could tell because there was residue of white powder on it. There was a hotel key card that they were using to chop it up.”

An image of the pub's bar before it was broken into (Image: Romy Frape)

Items he said were missing from the pub included a food dehydrator, a drill and a toolbox, estimating that the total value amounted to as much as £2,500.

He had received some samples of alcohol from distributors but Ade added: “They stole or drank six or seven bottles of red wine, and there was also a bottle of tequila that they drank.

"There were also some nice Martini glasses, tumblers and high ball glasses gone.

“We had furnished the ladies bathroom really elegantly with some hand mirrors and some vintage mirrors – they took some of those.

“They even took things like lightbulbs; they took everything to the point that they took our last roll of toilet paper.”

Items were stolen from the bar and lady's bathroom (Image: Romy Frape)

The pub manager said that when he saw what had happened, he was tempted to “give up”, but that his friends and family have since persuaded him to carry on.

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Ade explained: “Honestly it was so devastating, my wife just started crying.

"It’s all the time and effort and energy you put into the place for months to make it look nice.”

He added that he still wanted to open in early May, pending licencing approval from Islington Council, and hoped the local community would come out to support the pub.

Metropolitan Police confirmed that they are investigating a burglary at the pub, and said the suspects forced entry and stole “a number of items”.

A spokesperson said forensics had been at the scene and that the investigation is ongoing. No arrests have been made.