A Spalding newsagent has described how his family has lost gold jewellery worth a “significant amount” in a distraction burglary involving a gang of six people.
The three men and three women targeted Ball’s News in Hawthorn Bank, with one of the group gaining access to the living quarters at the rear of the shop.
She spent up to 15 minutes upstairs, stealing items of gold from secret places.
The jewellery belonged to business proprietor Thusha Satgunanathan’s mother, wife and two young children. His mother’s pieces were about 30 years old.
The family has been left shaken and upset by the incident, which happened at about 2pm on Monday, October 24 – Thusha’s 40th birthday.
He said: “I had been out of the shop and when I got back it was full of people and I immediately thought something was up, because it was very unusual.
“They did not speak very good English and were constantly asking for the prices of items, keeping us talking. But we didn’t realise what had happened until 7pm when my mum said: ‘All the jewellery has gone’.
“My wife and mother were very upset and it took them four or five days to get back to anything like normal.”
Lincolnshire Police said: “We would like to trace the people in the CCTV images as they may be able to assist with the enquiry. If you recognise them, please contact us, quoting incident 433 of October 24.”
