Victim says make it tough for thieves

Victim says make it tough for thieves

5 September 2012

ONE of the victims of last week’s lead thefts in the district has said it needs to be harder for thieves to sell their stolen goods.

Angus McRobert is currently carrying out a major clear-up of his property on Crossgar’s Ballynahinch Road, which was targeted in the early hours of last Thursday morning.

In a separate incident last weekend it was discovered thieves had stolen lead flashing from St. Malachy’s Parish Church in Kilclief outside Strangford.

In Crossgar the Grade B listed and European Heritage site, which incorporates an old flour mill, fell victim to thieves who stole lead from the roof of the building, also damaging security cameras, a field gate and window.

Bad weather meant a considerable amount of water damage was caused to the inside wood and plasterwork. Initial estimates valued the damage between £26,000 and £41,000.

Mr. McRobert said he hoped raising public awareness about this growing crime on older properties would focus the attention of the authorities on to this growing problem and alert vulnerable residents.

“We are just not looking at career criminals,” he said.

“They could get up to £800 for the lead they stole from my property but in the process they have caused tens of thousands of pounds worth of damage.

“Water came into the roof and the majority of the house is affected.”

This is not the first time the Crossgar property has been targeted, with hundreds of pounds worth of copper piping and lead stolen in the past year.

Although there is already an initiative underway to prevent cash pay-outs at scrap yards, Mr. McRobert feels more could be done to prevent thieves passing their stolen goods on to scrap yards.

Incidents of metal theft in Northern Ireland have more than tripled since 2007 and the Assembly is currently looking into what can be done to tackle the problem.

“The police were much more responsive on this occasion,” said Mr. McRobert. “On the other hand I am not certain they are going to be able to do much more. They told me they had recently got a group of people into court for this type of crime.

“I can’t imagine someone would have been driving past the house at 4am when this happened but there may be a pattern with another incident.

“I want to help keep this issue in the public mind and encourage people to keep an eye on each other’s properties.”

A police spokesman said there were no arrests yet in connection with this incident.

“All lines will be investigated and police enquiries are continuing,” she said.