Break-in at Omagh shop captured on CCTV

CCTV footage has captured the moment when a thief jumped in to the back office of an Omagh shop in the early hours of yesterday (Thursday) morning and stole a cash box containing around £200.

Keith Dolan, the owner of the Mace Gortin Road, believes that the same individual was caught on security cameras “scouting” around his premises several nights before.

Mr Dolan said the actual break-in to the office, which occurred at around 3.40am yesterday, was over within a matter of seconds.

He said, “It looked like he knew what he was doing. He had arrived on a bicycle from the Gortin end of town, as it were, and did a lot of work to get into the enclosed back yard.

“He then manoeuvred a fire escape and took the barriers off the back window of the office. But he must have forgotten something, as he left for around 14 minutes and came back with more equipment.

“He entered a small window and proceeded to jump very quickly into the office and lifted the small float, a cash box with a couple of hundred pounds in it, and away he went.”

The businessman added, “The alarms went off and police were notified. We went down to the shop as soon as we could.”

Condemning the theft, Mr Dolan said, “The money is hard-earned enough with everything that is going on. It puts everyone on tenterhooks.

“But we can thank our lucky stars that there was no member of staff hurt.”

Police say enquiries are continuing and would appeal to anyone with any information to contact them on 101, quoting reference number 275 10/09/20.

A PSNI spokesperson said, “You can also submit a report online using our non-emergency reporting form via http://www.psni.police.uk/makeareport/.

“Alternatively, information can also be provided to the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 which is 100 per-cent anonymous and gives people the power to speak up and stop crime.”