Audacious thieves were caught on CCTV, brazenly carrying a large tool shed out of a man’s garden after first picking and choosing which contents they fancied.
The footage shows what seems to be two men meticulously laying out tools from the chest-high store, before nonchalantly opening the gate and carting the shed away.
The incident occurred on Monday night (January 6), but Hull homeowner Steve Foster was none the wiser until around noon the next day.
Steve said: “It’s unbelievable. I’ve never known anything like this.
(Image: Steve Foster)
“I said to my wife, ‘on such cold nights we should shut these curtains’, and we actually left them closed until about dinner time on Tuesday. She opened them and said, ‘the shed’s gone’.”
The CCTV recording was shared with the police, capturing what Steve described as a “callous” act by the intruders.
“There’s a 7ft fence all around the garden and you’d never know what’s inside.”, reports Hull Live.
“I can only think that I’ve maybe been out in my garden doing something and someone’s glanced in and seen the shed. I think it’s probably been stolen to order, with a buyer before they even came here, as they went straight to it.
“They don’t care about the upset they’ve caused but this has made my wife, who is already poorly, even more ill. She suffers with a lot of problems – she has been in hospital twice recently with sepsis – and she has got anxiety.
“My wife is a wheelchair user and we changed the garden to make it easy for her to access. It’s something pretty and pleasant for her to look out on.
“These people have intimidated us and with it affecting my wife as it has, it’s made me more determined to give this as much attention as I can,” Steve explained. He purchased the tool shed about three years ago for approximately £230.
The thieves cut around the base of the shed, mistakenly thinking it was fixed in, leaving a hole in the resin surface that the couple had spent thousands on to make the garden more accessible. “There’s this gap now,” Steve commented.
“It’s a case of saving up for a replacement now. I’ve said to my wife, don’t worry about the next one, as I am going to drill it into the concrete below, or concrete it in, so no one can move it.”
Along with the shed, a spade was also stolen by the thieves, who Steve believes gained entry by one of them climbing over the fence separating him from his neighbour, and opening his gate to let the other in. “I don’t know exactly what else went, they were laying the tools out on the ground.”
Steve added: “I know it was dark but someone must have seen these two carrying my shed away as they had to walk past houses.”
A spokesperson for Humberside Police stated: “We received a report that a shed and gardening equipment worth an estimated £100 had been stolen from a property in Biggin Avenue in Hull between Sunday 5 and Monday 6 January.”
“Anybody who may have any information can contact us on our non-emergency number 101 quoting investigation reference 25*2211.”
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