Double charity shop raids “low”

Raiders hit the adjoining Cancer Focus Northern Ireland and Barnardos shops at Main Street.

At Cancer Focus a safe was ripped off a wall and money was taken while at Barnardos a laptop was stolen.

Clare McCrellis, manageress at Cancer Focus, said: “We just came in and found the back door was busted in and the safe was pulled off the wall and money taken out and they also took the float from the till. It is terrible. People said they were sorry to hear about what happened.”

Barnardos manageress Jane Cole said: “We had a break-in at the rear of the store and they had not been able to get in through the door but got in through a window. We were quite fortunate that they didn’t manage to take anything other than a Barnardos encrypted laptop from an office area and as far as I am aware they will not be able to access it without the proper password.”

Inspector David Anderson said: “Breaking into and stealing from these businesses is a low act.”