Brazen thief only has eyes for luxury specs
Alert as Crieff opticians targeted by‘friendly’crook
Perthshire opticians have been targeted by a brazen thief who pocketed thousands of poundsworth of high-end spectacles in broad daylight.
The plausible conman strolled into The Eye Centre in Crieff on Thursday, February 13, around noon.
Avril Smith, who owns the family-run firm along with husband Peter Soulsby and son and daughter-in-law, James and Nishita Michael, said that theft is not a common occurrence in an opticians’ shop, so staff were unsuspecting of the well-dressed customer perusing the shelves.
She said: “The practice was really busy at the time. He was in for about 20 minutes trying on frames.
“It happened on Thursday afternoon last week, although we didn’t notice the stock was gone ‘til the next day when we came in and realised there were quite a number of frames missing from the panels.
“This was the second time he had been in. He had been in a couple of weeks prior to get a screw fitted.
“Some frames had gone missing that day but we didn’t put two and two together until the second time.”
Avril went on to explain she has since learned The Eye Centre is not the only business to have been targeted.
She continued: “He seems to have been active across a wide area.
“Stock has also been stolen in another practice and at one in Fife that we know of. He seems to know exactly what he wants.
“He is quite distinctive and very smartly dressed. He is not shy. He engages the staff in conversation and talks about his wife a lot, pretending to be friendly.
“Each practice has lost quite a number of frames.”
The glasses the thief has been pocketing retail at more than £300 each.
Avril, who said police were in the process of checking CCTV footage of the street, added: “He is taking a brand called Silhouette, which are rim-less glasses. Although not well-known designer frames, they are high-end. He must have an outlet for them.
“He is about 45 to 50 years-old, 5’10” and quite stocky. None of the practices I have spoken to think he is local.
“We are a family-run business who work hard and do our best in the community. When somebody does something like this and it’s premeditated it leaves a nasty taste. We just want to warn others to be wary.”
A Police Scotland spokesperson said: “We received a report of theft from an opticians store on the High Street, Crieff, on Friday, February 14. The incident happened during the afternoon on Thursday, February 13. Enquiries are ongoing.”