Thieves take clothes from charity’s store (From Oxford Mail)
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Thieves take clothes from charity’s store
11:00am Saturday 12th May 2012 in Oxford
By Rhianne Pope
Karen Thomas restocks the shelves
BURGLARS forced their way into an Oxford charity shop before helping themselves to its stock.
The thieves cost the Helen & Douglas House vintage shop in Summertown hundreds of pound in lost takings.
They took clothes, a basket and jewellery from the specialist shop in Banbury Road.
Although no money was stolen, staff were forced to shut for two days waiting for police to check the premises and to clear up and restock the shelves.
The charity’s head of retail, David Cryer, said: “We couldn’t believe it. It has caused a lot of distress for the staff and volunteers, especially the volunteers, who come in and spend their free time making the shop look nice and making it profitable.
“For them to come in and find this is incredibly disappointing.”
The shop opened in January, selling retro and vintage clothing and homewares.
All the profits go to the hospice in Magdalen Road, East Oxford, which provides care for children and young adults with life-shortening illnesses.
The burglars forced their way in through the shop’s back door some time between last Saturday evening and Tuesday morning.
Staff cannot be sure how many items were stolen, but said each piece in the shop’s stock was a “one-off”.
Mr Cryer added: “We lost two days of trading, which was potentially about £500 of turnover.
“That’s money that goes directly to the children Helen & Douglas House looks after and the support we give them.
“It’s just the principle of it really. Who breaks into a charity shop?”
Although insured for the damage to the door and shop fittings, the charity will not be compensated for the loss of income or stock.
No police officers were available to visit the shop until Wednesday, a day after the break-in was discovered.
Staff said recordings from a CCTV security system showed more than two people could have been involved in the break-in. Police were unable to confirm this.
Assistant manager Karen Thomas said: “These people don’t think the same as we do. By getting into the shop, they believe they have got these clothes for free. But they don’t think about the people who donated the clothes, who wanted the money to go to the children.”
She added: “The children this money helps are very sick and every penny counts.”
Thames Valley Police spokes-man Alice Adderley confirmed officers had visited the shop and said the delay was because there had been no police available initially.
Anyone with information about the burglary should call Oxford police on 101 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555111.
Comments(16)
carli
says...
4:02pm Sat 12 May 12
John Lamb
says...
4:26pm Sat 12 May 12
carli wrote:Do you ever see them on patrol? No...neither do I?
Mr Lamb..how come it's always the fault of the police? The article says they shut for 2 days for police AND to restock the store. What I would like to know is how Helen and Douglas Charity can afford 2 shops in Summertown and other shops are having to shut?
carli
says...
4:44pm Sat 12 May 12
Milkbutnosugarplease
says...
11:15pm Sat 12 May 12
LORD PETER MACVEY 0X2 6EG
says...
2:41am Sun 13 May 12
carli wrote:It was the fault of the police because there were 4 cars and a full quota of officers a mile down the road in St Giles nicking motorists for doing over 20 mph. But then again there is no money in attending a crime, but loads in handing out fixed penalties.
Mr Lamb..how come it's always the fault of the police? The article says they shut for 2 days for police AND to restock the store. What I would like to know is how Helen and Douglas Charity can afford 2 shops in Summertown and other shops are having to shut?
Niko Bellic
says...
8:12am Sun 13 May 12
carli wrote:Charity shops get an 80% discount on business rates. Oxford City Council set their rates remarkably high (the former Felsons sandwich shop - now a kiddies shoe place, less than half the size of H&D was set at £18,000). Therefore the council's policies are putting the other shops out of business while the saving allows charities to survive
Mr Lamb..how come it's always the fault of the police? The article says they shut for 2 days for police AND to restock the store. What I would like to know is how Helen and Douglas Charity can afford 2 shops in Summertown and other shops are having to shut?
carli
says...
9:37am Sun 13 May 12
LORD PETER MACVEY 0X2 6EG wrote:Lord Macvey how do you know it was the full quota of officers? Again it's not the fault of the police, however I do hope they manage to get a new crystal ball to view what is going to happen in the future!!!!
carli wrote:It was the fault of the police because there were 4 cars and a full quota of officers a mile down the road in St Giles nicking motorists for doing over 20 mph. But then again there is no money in attending a crime, but loads in handing out fixed penalties.
Mr Lamb..how come it's always the fault of the police? The article says they shut for 2 days for police AND to restock the store. What I would like to know is how Helen and Douglas Charity can afford 2 shops in Summertown and other shops are having to shut?
LORD PETER MACVEY 0X2 6EG
says...
6:03pm Sun 13 May 12
carli wrote:Because I wandered into town Tuesday morning and saw it with my own eyes, all four of them, so I am very sure.
LORD PETER MACVEY 0X2 6EG wrote:Lord Macvey how do you know it was the full quota of officers? Again it's not the fault of the police, however I do hope they manage to get a new crystal ball to view what is going to happen in the future!!!!
carli wrote:It was the fault of the police because there were 4 cars and a full quota of officers a mile down the road in St Giles nicking motorists for doing over 20 mph. But then again there is no money in attending a crime, but loads in handing out fixed penalties.
Mr Lamb..how come it's always the fault of the police? The article says they shut for 2 days for police AND to restock the store. What I would like to know is how Helen and Douglas Charity can afford 2 shops in Summertown and other shops are having to shut?
John Lamb
says...
12:23am Mon 14 May 12
carli wrote:Decent crime PREVENTION does not require a crystal ball Carli, it simply requires the drive, intelligence and actions of Thames Valley Police officers. If all the police are for is to run around mopping up after criminals, then that's a truly sad state of affairs.
LORD PETER MACVEY 0X2 6EG wrote:Lord Macvey how do you know it was the full quota of officers? Again it's not the fault of the police, however I do hope they manage to get a new crystal ball to view what is going to happen in the future!!!!
carli wrote:It was the fault of the police because there were 4 cars and a full quota of officers a mile down the road in St Giles nicking motorists for doing over 20 mph. But then again there is no money in attending a crime, but loads in handing out fixed penalties.
Mr Lamb..how come it's always the fault of the police? The article says they shut for 2 days for police AND to restock the store. What I would like to know is how Helen and Douglas Charity can afford 2 shops in Summertown and other shops are having to shut?
Here's my plan for the charity shop problem: have regular patrols along the main road through Summertown when bags are usually left outside these shops, then arrest anyone caught rifling through these donations.
It's not Columbo but it does seem beyond them at the moment.
If criminals cottoned on too haw few police cars/officers are actually on duty at night, then they would have a field day and the officers would just spend all day responding to the previous night's crimes...oh...it's like a vicious circle isn't it?
rugby roy
says...
1:03pm Mon 14 May 12
iklhik
says...
3:09pm Mon 14 May 12
rugby roy wrote:Part of the problem is the courts hand out ridiculously lenient sentences, part of the problem is that a lot of the crimes are committed by people who enjoy caravanning more than me, and the police are scared to intervene.
One of my colleagues had a bicycle stolen from outside our offices in Summertown last month. We had CCTV footage of the thieves but the police, despite being informed, have never followed it up
LORD PETER MACVEY 0X2 6EG
says...
3:57pm Mon 14 May 12
iklhik wrote:In light of the comments by Trevor Phillips it seems that the police are scared of not only the "happy Campers" when it comes to treading on toes.
rugby roy wrote:Part of the problem is the courts hand out ridiculously lenient sentences, part of the problem is that a lot of the crimes are committed by people who enjoy caravanning more than me, and the police are scared to intervene.
One of my colleagues had a bicycle stolen from outside our offices in Summertown last month. We had CCTV footage of the thieves but the police, despite being informed, have never followed it up
saffron lady
says...
4:50pm Mon 14 May 12
carli
says...
4:42pm Tue 15 May 12
saffron lady wrote:saffron lady thank you for wise words....at least someone isn't have a go at the police.
'Lord' McVey - the burglary could have happened anytime between Saturday and Tuesday morning so, unless you have insider information about this crime, it is irrelevant that you saw four police officers in St Giles Tuesday morning, the crime had already been committed. Do us all a favour and get a life.
saffron lady
says...
5:14pm Tue 15 May 12
John Lamb wrote:So Mr Lamb, you would rather police deal with theft of charity bags on a busy weekend night shift, spending a minimum of four hours in custody dealing with the offenders, than patrolling the streets and dealing with more pressing crimes. I'm sure you wouldn't be happy if you had been assaulted and were told 'sorry, but all our officers are tied up in custody with charity bag thieves'!
carli wrote:Decent crime PREVENTION does not require a crystal ball Carli, it simply requires the drive, intelligence and actions of Thames Valley Police officers. If all the police are for is to run around mopping up after criminals, then that's a truly sad state of affairs.
LORD PETER MACVEY 0X2 6EG wrote:Lord Macvey how do you know it was the full quota of officers? Again it's not the fault of the police, however I do hope they manage to get a new crystal ball to view what is going to happen in the future!!!!
carli wrote:It was the fault of the police because there were 4 cars and a full quota of officers a mile down the road in St Giles nicking motorists for doing over 20 mph. But then again there is no money in attending a crime, but loads in handing out fixed penalties.
Mr Lamb..how come it's always the fault of the police? The article says they shut for 2 days for police AND to restock the store. What I would like to know is how Helen and Douglas Charity can afford 2 shops in Summertown and other shops are having to shut?
Here's my plan for the charity shop problem: have regular patrols along the main road through Summertown when bags are usually left outside these shops, then arrest anyone caught rifling through these donations.
It's not Columbo but it does seem beyond them at the moment.
If criminals cottoned on too haw few police cars/officers are actually on duty at night, then they would have a field day and the officers would just spend all day responding to the previous night's crimes...oh...it's like a vicious circle isn't it?
John Lamb says...
11:14am Sat 12 May 12
Never a policeman around when....well...ever.