Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
Yob’s Ferry break-in bid a ‘kick in teeth’
A BUSINESS owner could be left hundreds of pounds out of pocket after an attempted break-in at his store left a door damaged.
Designer clothing store Millars of Broughty Ferry has captured a yob on CCTV trying to force his way into the premises on Gray Street shortly after 2am on Wednesday. Then, just before 6am, the M&S Foodhall on Brook Street was targeted in an almost identical incident and a door was damaged.
Police are investigating both incidents. Jonathan Booth, who owns Millars, will now look to “ramp up” security.
He said: “It’s hard enough trying to stay positive as it is at the moment, so something like this is a kick in the teeth.
“It’s the new menswear store that’s been targeted during this incident.
“We’ve caught the man on CCTV at around 2.15am. With it being so dark it’s hard to make him out but it does look like it was someone acting alone.
“I would place him at around 5ft 7in tall but that’s about as much as we can really tell.
“He is using an instrument which we believe is a crowbar to break his way into the store and he spends around three to four minutes trying to break-in.
“Our doors are all quite strong and there was no way he was going to burst the door open.
“I think out of frustration he has started whacking the glass.
“He did have tools in a bag, you see him looking around, it’s like he gets disturbed and runs off.”
Jonathan said he was now counting the costs following the failed break-in.
He added: “When you go to the insurance, there’s excess to pay. The panel that was damaged and the door itself you’re probably talking anything between £400 to £600 to fix it.
“By the time you pay your excess it’s not worth the hassle. I’ve contacted the police about the incident but they can’t come out until Friday.
“I’m aware of the matter at the M&S Foodhall after reading the story online, it looks very similar to what’s happened here.
“I put a post on social media with an image of the person and the extent of the damage that has been caused and people were sharing the appeal.
“We’ve obviously had a few incidents in the past but this is the first of this nature.
“Fellow traders in the Ferry also got in touch after seeing the appeal just saying how disappointed they were by what had happened.
“As a traders’ association we’ve worked through the good and the bad times and I’ve appreciated them getting in touch.”
A Police Scotland spokeswoman said: “We were called to a property on Gray Street, Broughty Ferry, on Wednesday March 17 at around 12.55pm to reports of an attempted break-in.
“Inquiries are ongoing.”