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Optician hits out after 8th shop raid
THE owner of a Primrose Hill opticians that was raided for the eighth time in two years this week has called for stiffer sentences for criminals.
Adam Simmonds, who runs his business in Regent’s Park Road, was woken in the early hours of Sunday to be told that raiders with sledgehammers had smashed their way into the premises’ window display.
“When the phone goes in the middle of the night, now I pick it up and just say, ‘I’ll be straight down,’” said Mr Simmonds said.
Two thieves were seen breaking into the store then fleeing in a black BMW with around £1,000 of designer frames, according to police. It is understood the car was stolen, and later found abandoned in Lawn Road, Hampstead.
It is the latest in a string of smash-and-grab raids on opticians in Hampstead and the West End which have driven owners like Mr Simmonds to lock all but a handful of glasses away.
He said: “When these cases eventually go to court the judges are told that this is a ‘victimless crime’. It is not. We are not insured for the items in the front of the shop – you need to have them there to show you’re still in business – and the fact is your shop has been violated.”
Anyone with information on the raid should contact police 020 7404 1212. |
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