Shop window smash is caught on CCTV
THE image of a middle-aged man smashing the front window of a business premises in Mallin Street with a hammer, has been caught on several CCTV cameras which are being checked by gardai as part of their investigation into the late night attack.
It will cost €1,100 to replace the damaged window at Be-Pierced run by Liam O Grady whose own CCTV tape shows the man, dressed in jeans and a jumper, arriving outside the premises with a hammer and smashing the laminate window three times in an apparent attempt to steal jewellery on display.
But the window didn’t break and he left the scene with no loot. What the culprit didn’t realise was that most of the jewellery items in the window are imitation pieces for display purposes only and the quality products stocked by Be-Pierced, are not kept on the premises overnight.
‘I sell a lot of high-quality jewellery but most of what’s in the window is imitation,’ said Liam who took over the business a year ago from the previous owner, Adam Gill with whom he had worked with for five years.
Be-Pierced offers a piercing and tattoo service and has a wide range of customers. Piercings are becoming a more popular body adornment among older age groups where once it was the preserve of the younger generation, according to Liam.
The shop owner said he was ‘absolutely horrified’ when he arrived at the shop on Saturday morning to discover a huge spiderweb crack in the window.
‘I got a silent alarm message on my phone the previous night but I put no pass on it because it’s a laminate window and it shakes if a big truck goes by. There was a Transition Year ball on that night and I also thought it might be young lads sitting on the window sill. Even if someone puts their hand on the window as they pass by, the alarm is raised.’
‘My best guess is that he was after the jewellery in the window and he gave up when the window didn’t cave in,’ said Liam who is hoping that the man can be identified from one of a number of cameras on the street including one on the outside of Wexford Library.
The culprit is captured on various cameras on Mallin Street and the adjoining streets as he makes his way to and from the premises.
Following the attempted smash n’ grab, Liam discovered that despite having two insurance policies on the premises, the window which was well-lit at the time, was not covered.
He has upgraded his insurance since the incident. ‘It’s going to cost me €1,100 to replace the window. That’s a big cost,’ he said. ‘It’s not a street that a lot of people walk through late at night because there’s no street lights on it,’ he added.