Raiders stole a safe and left taps running for 10 hours at a pie shop in Highbury after cutting a Hatton Garden-style hole in a door to get in.
The group smashed windows, clogged drains and damaged equipment at the Piebury Corner shop in Highbury. They then left taps to run and made their escape. The owners, who were on holiday, found the shop under six inches of water when they got back.
“They smashed their way in and then cut a hole in the office door to get to the safe,” said Nicola Campbell, owner of the shop in Holloway Road.
“They stole the safe, stole our change bucket, emptied the tip bucket – they even stole the CCTV footage. They’ve absolutely destroyed the place.”
The shop has been closed for the last week to repair the damage caused by the thieves, with staff working round the clock to try and get Piebury Corner ready for business again,
“It just makes you think: ‘What is wrong with people?’” Nicola told the Gazette last week, standing beneath a second hole – this one a cavity in the ceiling caused by the flooding.
“Everything was sodden with water. You can still smell the damp, and I’ve had a dehumidifier running for the past two days.”
Nicola and her husband, Paul, had been on holiday at the time of the incident, and have been working flat out to reopen.
Not long after the couple bought the shop in 2013 it was in the news after Napoli fans attacked Arsenal fans sat outside, causing major damage.
“I’m just starting to think this shop is cursed,” said Nicola.
“I’ve got a 15-year-old son and I don’t want to have to worry about him walking home from school. But with something like this happening, I just don’t know any more.”
The heist is faintly reminiscent of the £14million jewellery theft at the Hatton Garden safe deposit company last year. Seven men were jailed in March for conspiracy to commit burglary after an Easter weekend operation that saw them drill a now-iconic 45x25cm hole in a reinforced concrete wall before making off with their booty. One man, known only as “Basil”, is still at large.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here