Castle Street shops hit again by burglars

On Friday night a police foot patrol was passing a shop at around 3am when officers heard noises coming from the rear of the building.

When they investigated they found a first floor window had been smashed and entry gained.

Police went inside but the culprit had run off leaving behind a number of items, including a disabled CCTV system.

When they checked neighbouring businesses they found broken rear windows at two other properties, however it’s not thought entry was gained.

It is believed the burglar was aged in his early 20s, 5’ 10” tall of a slim build and was dressed all in black.

The owner of Mollys Parlour in Castle Street, Vicky Miller, discovered the attempted break-in at her premises on Saturday morning. She said she felt ‘sickened’ when she opened the door to find a side window had been smashed and broken glass lying inside.

She said that as a result of clearing the damage up she lost two hours of business on what was an unusually busy morning.

“Saturdays are normally busy anyway but last Saturday the Lisburn City Festival was on” Vicky said. “This is the second time we have been targeted. We were hit in February when someone got in through the front door and took a laptop.

“Everyone is having to consider getting alarms fitted or grills on their windows,” she said. “In saying that I don’t intend to let someone push me out. We have no intention of moving. We love our business.”

The previous weekend hairdressing salon Studio 18 had £5000 worth of Mac make-up stolen as well as hair straighteners. Burglars had got in by climbing onto a flat roof at the rear and breaking the landing window.

The owner of Studio 18 said they were also targeted in February and she now doesn’t know what to expect when she opens her door.

“These are all fairly new businesses” she said. “We are only here a year and we really do not have £3000 to spend on securing our property.”

Policing Board member, local MLA Jonathan Craig, said he had been assured that additional resources would be put into areas where there have been series of break-ins. He hoped that would apply to Castle Street.

He also urged those who have fallen victim to break ins or attempted break ins to report the incident to the police.

“It is deplorable that these people who are trying to make a living are being targeted when they are already under financial pressure,” he said. “They will now have to spend extra money on securing their property despite this being a time of economical hardship.

“There are premises in Castle Street that have been targeted a few times so there are clearly security issues.”

Police say that they have had an intense focus on burglary and known burglars in D District which includes Lisburn which is reaping results. During May and early June the latest phase of the targeted Operation Zariba saw a total 26 people arrested and questioned in connection with a number of burglaries committed across the Antrim, Carrick, Lisburn and Newtownabbey areas.

District Crime Manager Detective Chief Inspector Colin Gillis said: “I want to reassure people that we are still working to reduce further the number of people who find themselves a victim. Over coming weeks and months we will keep rolling out phases of our robust detect and arrest strategy, however we will not just focus on enforcement, but also on offender management and prevention.

“As the results of our recent phase of Op Zariba would testify, we have put significant effort into making sure we always know who the prolific offenders are in each of our areas and also into making sure that they know that if they commit an offence in D District then we will pursue them, arrest them and place them before the courts. By targeting our resources in this way we can suppress the opportunity these people have to make victims of more members of our community.”

Anyone with information regarding the break ins is asked to contact police on 0845 600 8000. Alternatively information about crime can be passed anonymously to the Crimestoppers charity on 0800 555 111.