Sledgehammer attack on CCTV

THIS is the moment a thug armed with a sledgehammer charges towards a furniture shop - and goes to smash the window.

CCTV footage from the store shows a masked man running from the Longford Park area towards Shawn Furniture across the road.

The owners of the shop have just released the footage of the incident which happened just after 5am on July 11, 2017 - saying they are still being targeted nearly 16 months on.

And they say they are living in fear of the next attack.

In the first CCTV clip, a male with a white mask hiding his face runs across the road with a sledgehammer and goes straight for the fire exit.

Approaching the furniture store, he looks set to go for the door and goes to lift the sledgehammer to smash it in.

Just one minute after the CCTV was filmed from the angle outside, images from inside show two people grabbing some of the ornaments on display.

As they are leaving, they decide to go back in and grab more loot.

The owner of Shawn furniture said: “One of our very first incidents was last July when we had someone come from across the road armed with what looks like a sledgehammer and smash our fire exit.

“We had another incident where our entire shop front windows were smashed too and we had to spend £20,000 strengthening the windows and adding shutters.

“It makes you feel so unsafe.

“We are fortunate in that we have good neighbours and they make us aware of the thefts, but it can’t keep on happening.

“That morning, it was around 5am, so it would have been light soon, and after the window was smashed, you can see others joining him and coming to steal ornaments.

“This is what we have worked for and it is gone in minutes.”

West Midlands Police were contacted for comment, but they could find no record on the system.

The owner of the store said the police did come out, but only gave them a crime reference number and didn’t follow anything up.