Sydenham shop raided for sixth time

Press, 9 June 1977, Page 2

Sydenham shop raided for sixth time

Thieves were interrupted “The police have recovered by passing Freightways se- the things which were stocurity men in the middle of len, but they are all smashed a smash-and-grab raid on beyond repair.” the Sydenham electrical ap- Mr Milligan valued the pliance retail shop of Milli- stolen items about $750 but gan’s Radio, Ltd, soon after estimated that the damage 4 a.m. yesterday. caused to his shop and other It was the fifth raid on stock would be that much Milligan’s Radio since De- again. The large plate-glass cember and the sixth since display window in the shop May last year. The fre- was smashed with a council quency of the raids is a con- litter bin, and glass was siderable worry to the man- flung six metres into the aging director of the com- shop. Stock was damaged by pany, Mr Robin Milligan flying glass and one cabinet (shown above), who is at a was “scratched to shreds.”

loss to know how to stop them. The two thieves made off on a motor-cycle with two radio-cassette recorders and a cassette tape deck. They were chased by the security men in a van and crashed about a block away. The stolen items were dropped and the thieves fled on foot. No arrest had been made last evening. "I am tired of people who won’t leave things alone that don’t belong to them,” said Mr Milligan last evening.

"I am thinking of writing to the Christchurch City Council and asking it to make its littei bins out of rubber in future.” Mr Milligan said. “It was just lucky that there was a security vehicle nearby. The men heard the burglar alarm and the breaking wi..dow. When a window like this collapses it makes quite a din.” Mr Milligan’s premises were last broken into early in April, when car radios and cassette recorders were taken. “They mostly take

small portable appliances which are easy to get rid of.” But last December, thieves took a colour television set valued about $BOO. Mr Milligan could not say how much property he has lost in recent raids except to confirm that it was “a fair bit.” He finds it difficult to understand why his business has been the target of so many burglaries. “It is very annoying — you wonder just what you can do to stop it. The insurance company has been very good — it pays for the cost of the appliances — but there is no compensation for lost time or for the fact that stock has to be replaced which might have increased in cost in the meantime.” He thinks that the attraction of his shop for thieves might be because of the variety of getav/ay routes. They can either go up Or down Colombo Street or down the road opposite.

“It would be much more difficult to escape from a mall complex,” he said.