Shopping
Thieves smash London shop and steal £6,000 suits seconds after police drive past
Thieves ransacked £6,000 worth of designer suits in a smash and grab raid – before making off on bikes.
The pair used bricks to break into the Batch London store in Spitalfields in the early hours of this morning.
CCTV footage shows the moment the balaclava clad duo rip the clothes from mannequins before making a getaway just before 4am today.
The co-founder of the store Sam Matanle told Metro that he was considering moving shops over fears of being robbed again.
He said: ‘I got a call at 5am saying one of our windows had been smashed.
‘I arrived and found they had stolen our new collection, and we only launched it 10 days ago.
‘We now have a lot of anxiety being in the area, and it is not a comfortable experience working here.
‘We are still operating as business as usual, but this has confirmed to us we need to move to a brand new location.’
The entire attack lasted just six minutes, starting at 3.53am and ending by 4am.
One moment even shows a police car driving past, but the brazen thieves were not spooked.
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Celebrity clients have included Romesh Ranganathan and TopBoy star Ashley Walters who have been kitted out by shop in the past.
The store was robbed at their previous location around the corner when a man ran in, grabbed a jacket, and ran out again.
The Metropolitan Police said: ‘Police were called at approximately 05:15hrs on Thursday, 24 October to reports of a burglary at a shop in Commercial Road, E1.
‘A window had been smashed and items of clothing stolen.
‘An investigation into the circumstances, including securing any forensic opportunities and analysing CCTV, is under way.
‘There have been no arrests and enquiries continue.’
It comes as shoplifting offences recorded by police in England and Wales has risen to a new 20-year high.
A total of 469,788 offences were logged by forces in the year to June 2024, up 29% on the 365,173 recorded in the previous 12 months.
The figure is the highest since current records began in the year to March 2003, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
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