Volunteer arrived to find intruders inside charity shop
DONATIONS AND CHRISTMAS DECORATIONS ‘TRASHED’
A NOTTINGHAM charity volunteer has spoken of the moment he arrived for his early-morning shift to find intruders in the shop.
Thousands of pounds of damage was caused during a break-in at the Mesopotamia charity shop in Valley Road, Basford. The incident happened during the early hours of Thursday, November 17, but the intruders were not able to get out of the property.
Volunteer Richard Newbold, 48, of Basford, said: “When I got here for my shift and saw people inside, I quickly doublelocked the door and they could not work out how to get out. To be honest I never felt threatened at all. I just remained calm and called the police, but it was definitely a shock to see people inside.”
He added: “I honestly feel a bit sorry for them because they must have been in a bad place to trash a charity.
“A lot of the donations we have been saving for Christmas and the food banks for the children had been trashed, and the festive decorations we put together to sell had been trashed and ruined.”
Aiming to support those in poverty in the UK, the charity has also helped vulnerable refugees in France, Greece and
Turkey through its donations. Following the break-in, the Basford community has come together to mitigate some of the damage. “We have had lots of donations, especially food, to replenish the stock we lost, and the locksmith was kind enough to donate his time to change the locks for free,” said Mr Newbold. Police were called to the scene at about 6.50am. Nottinghamshire Police confirmed they had charged a 52-yearold man with burglary, while a 53-yearold man was also arrested on suspicion of burglary. Detective Sergeant Paul Crofts said: “Burglary offences can have a considerable impact on businesses who are often just trying to make ends meet, or in this case raise money for charity. “As well as affecting livelihoods, invasive crimes of this nature can also leave a lasting impression on people from an emotional standpoint too. “Clearly, we don’t want to see this happen in our communities, which is why we take all reports of burglary we receive so seriously and aim to respond as quickly as possible.
“We are still in the process of investigating this incident, so we’d ask anyone that has any information to call the police on 101, quoting incident 82 of November 17.”
I just remained calm and called the police, but it was definitely a shock to see people inside
Richard Newbold