Bungling garden centre thieves make off with £1
Published: 22 October 2012
A Hampshire garden centre has been targeted by burglars for the fourth time in a year.
However, the thieves who broke into Aylings Garden Centre near Petersfield in the latest attack got away with nothing more than a few pence.
The centre's owner and manager, Chris Adam, told diyweek.net : "They did about £150-worth of damage getting in: they broke the window and removed the safe. But all that was in it was £1 in penny coins.
"They wore masks and gloves, but were only in the shop for a minute and a half. The police were here pretty quickly but it's very unlikely they'll be able to find anything."
Mr Adam said his garden centre had suffered four such attacks over the last 12 months, the last incident having been eight weeks ago.
"The previous one was much more exciting!" he said. "Two policemen and myself managed to arrest two of the burglars and the other one got away. They were charged with assault and burglary, and got 150 hours' community service each."
On that occasion, he said, he got the stolen goods back.
Mr Adam said rural crime was quite frequent in the area but he praised the local police and added that his business was well prepared for such attacks. "We're well alarmed and have got CCTV on site, and I live on the site too," he said.