Smash-and-grab raid had chosen targets

THOUSANDS of pounds-worth of mobile phones and digital cameras were stolen in a smash-and-grab raid at Grut's on the Bridge. A concrete block was thrown through one of the windows of the South Side shop at about 11.15pm on Saturday.

It is thought that more than 20 phones, worth in excess of £5,000, were stolen and others damaged.

Several digital cameras were also taken. Five were recovered nearby in a flower bed.

Managing director Andy Creed was yesterday counting the cost of the burglary. He hoped the culprits would be caught.

'We trust the system to bring them to justice. I hope they get hold of whoever did it,' he said.

He believed that those responsible targeted phones at the top of the market.

'This appears to have been of a more serious nature than vandalism. Like anything, it's the inconvenience and disruption that it causes to the business, he said.

'We now have a shop down there without glass. It's an extremely large window - about 9ft by 7ft.'

He accepted that break-ins do occur in St Peter Port and, to a lesser degree, on the Bridge.

'Shops in Town get windows smashed at weekends on a weekly basis,' he said.

He said that some shops were considering installing metal shutters to protect large and expensive windows.

'That has happened in the UK and we could end up with the same situation here. 'It's costing the business every time it happens and the cheaper option in future might be to have metal shutters. If it continues to escalate I could see some businesses considering this,' he said.

Grut's constantly reviews the security of its stores.

Yesterday the window was being repaired.

'We will make certain decisions with regard to security,' said Mr Creed.

The business has been at St Sampson's for about 30 years and he was not aware of any incident of this kind in the last five.

'In Town we probably get a window a year broken,' he said.

Crime prevention officer PC Bernie English said this was the second recent smash-and-grab raid of which he was aware where electrical goods had been taken. The other was at Soundtrack in Church Square, St Peter Port.

These types of incidents were rare, he said.

'It will be a sad time if metal grilles were considered in Guernsey,' he said.

But he acknowledged every business had to take security into account.

* Police inquiries are continuing and anyone with information is asked to contact police headquarters on 725111 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111