Watch: CCTV footage released after Great Yarmouth phone shop burgled
The Phone Genie store, in Great Yarmouth, was burgled on Monday. Stills from CCTV. - Credit: Supplied
A businessman has posted CCTV pictures online in a bid to catch intruders who stole phones and gadgets from his Great Yarmouth shop.
CCTV footage of burglars breaking into The Phone Genie in Howard Street South has reached 24,000 people via social media.Owner Martin Lees said he was astounded by the "amazing response" and hailed the actions of well-wishers hundreds of whom had shared his post. - Credit: Archant
The footage of burglars breaking into The Phone Genie in Howard Street South has reached tens of thousands people via social media.
Owner Martin Lees said he was astounded by the response.
The images show four men kicking in a side entrance to the business on Monday at 5.01pm, while shops nearby were still open.
Once inside, but off camera, they break through a false wall to the main shop triggering alarms.
A single figure wearing a black hoodie then leaps across the counter taking three customer iPhones and an iPad that were in for repairs.
The four men then leave the premises, only to return around 20 minutes later to take three hoverboards, also know as Segways.
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Mr Lees, 41, said it was the second time he had been targeted since opening the shop in November.
The first break-in happened just two weeks after he had put the final touches to the shop, in the former Garlands florist which has moved to Regent Street.
Pictures posted on Facebook after the first attack, lead to the conviction of the intruder who was handed a custodial sentence.
Mr Lees was in London and the shop was closed when the burglars struck and was alerted by the landlady of a nearby pub.
He said he was disheartened to have been targeted twice in such a short time, just as he was getting the business up and running.
That the intruders had struck while people were still going about their business and rushing off home to tea, had added to his shock, he said.
Mr Lees, who lives with his partner and two children in Gorleston, had spent around £13,000 transforming the shop into a modern phone hub with colourful LED lighting and quirky display units.
Having originally gone into business with Mark Harwood of Anglia Smartphones Mr Lees decided to strike out on his own with new premises in the town centre, focusing on repairs as well as phones, accessories and gadgets.
He said: 'With regard to small businesses they say 80pc go bust in the first year. We are not millionaires but were plodding along just nice.
'What I am really bothered about is everyone else. If this was done to someone else it could destroy them. Some people never get over things like this.
'If I could help someone else to find out who had robbed them then I would. I have been open for two and half months and have been burgled twice. What chance does that give me?'
A police spokesman said officers were keen to speak to those pictured and asked anyone who recognised them to come forward.
Anyone with information is asked to contact PC Gary Brown at Great Yarmouth Police via 101.
