‘Horrified’ jeweller watched armed raid on her shop’s CCTV

Crooks with an axe and sledgehammers stole £35k of stock

Thieves armed with sledgehammers and an axe smashed their way into an award-winning Fife jewellers and stole £35,000 worth of stock.

Shop owner Jo-Ann Kinnear watched the robbery on CCTV via her mobile phone after being woken by her alarm company in the early hours of Saturday.

Rings, pendants, chains, earrings and bangles were stolen in the 2.20am raid after the three men smashed through the front door of Fennes Jewellery in Glenrothes and made off with the safe.

The dark-clothed robbers smashed the Newark Road shop’s CCTV cameras before appearing to escape in a car.

The incident was over in 10 minutes but Jo-Ann is left counting the cost.

Items taken included an 18ct white gold diamond bubble ring worth £3,700 and a pair of Celtic earrings worth £145, along with a three-figure sum of cash.

“They were very organised,” she said. “They got all my high value pieces.”

Jo-Ann opened her shop in Eastfield Business Park eight months ago after a number of years in the trade. She was named specialist retailer of the year at the Fife Business Awards in February.

She had been asleep in bed when she got an alert from her alarm company.

“I can see on my camera who is in my shop and I could see them with sledgehammers. One had an axe,” she said.

“I was just shaking. I can’t describe how I felt. It was horrible.”

Jo-Ann joined the police at the premises and found the door and display cabinets smashed up and the safe wrenched from where it had been bolted to the floor.

She has now put the word out around jewellery contacts across Scotland urging them to watch out for anyone trying to sell her stolen stock.

Detective Inspector Paul Dick of Fife CID said a thorough investigation was under way.

“We’d ask anyone who may have witnessed any suspicious behaviour, or any motorists or taxi drivers who were travelling in the area around this time and have dashcam footage, to contact us,” he added.

Mr Dick also urged anyone who had been offered any of the stolen items for sale to contact police on 101, or call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

Picture: Wullie Marr. Award-winning jeweller Jo-Ann Kinnear opened her shop eight months ago.

Items including an 18ct white gold diamond bubble ring, above, was stolen. Below, the damage to the office door, which was smashed.