THIEVES TARGET SHOP AND CARS IN RAMPAGE

AN antiques shop in Henley had its shopfront smashed and cash box stolen during a late-night rampage.

Thames Valley Police confirmed that the burglary at Corner Copia in Friday Street in the early hours of Wednesday is linked to a spate of vandalism and theft of a car.

John and Jennie Pacitto were woken up at about 4.45am on by a call from police which informed them that their shop had been broken into.

The couple, who live at Swiss Farm, arrived at the shop to find that a hole, half a metre wide, had been smashed into the glass front door and a petty cash box with £100 inside stolen.

Several cars parked in Queen Street and Friday Street had also been broken into and a Land Rover Discovery left in the car park of the Anchor pub was stolen and found abandoned in Vicarage Road.

A car matching its description was caught on a security camera driving up Friday Street the wrong way at 2.29am and again at 3.56am.

Mrs Pacitto said that, including the damage to the front door of the shop, the couple had been left more than £400 out of pocket. “I’m just glad nobody was hurt,” she said. “They could have quite easily trashed the shop, which they didn’t.

“Police told us on the phone that the door had been caved in but we didn’t know what to actually expect. When I saw the hole, I didn’t actually expect that anyone could fit through that but they obviously could.”

The couple, who are in their 70s, moved to Henley from Eton Wick a few years ago and have run the shop for five years.

Mrs Pacitto said that, luckily, most of the business’s payments were made through cards, so there was limited cash in the shop.

“It’s still £100,” she said. “This is quite a lot for a small business like ours. We have never had a problem before or had nasty customers or anything like that so it’s upsetting.” Ed and Maggie Atkinson, who live in Queen Street, woke to find the front driver’s seat window of their Renault Zoe smashed and power and hand tools were stolen.

The couple had recently returned from Kent, where they were helping their daughter with a DIY project.

Mr Atkinson, a civil engineering consultant who has lived in the street for around 30 years, said he was “disheartened” after seeing the damage.

He said the window would cost £250 to fix and the value of the tools amounted to around £1,000.

Mr Atkinson said: “We used to get cars scratched and damaged wing mirrors but not this. It seems to be a lot more thought through than people causing trouble or being thoughtless.” The couple’s neighbour, Stuart Hutchinson, had his car window smashed but said that nothing appeared to have been taken.

He said: “It’s just so annoying because now it’s a couple of hundred pounds to fix or insurance or whatever it may be.”

Mr Hutchinson, who has lived in the road for more than 25 years, said that cars on the street had been targeted before and he had previously had to repair two wing mirrors.

He said: “What tends to happen is that we think it’s kids coming back from the town.

“Last time they broke our wing mirror and we got it fixed and they did it again. It’s one of the hazards of the street, particularly with the traffic coming back from the train station.” One resident, who did not want to be named, said that she had woken up to find that her car had been opened.

“I didn’t hear a thing,” she said. “In fact, very few people heard anything. It’s a mystery.

“I heard about it on our WhatsApp group. It was open and I’m not sure how they did that. I just had a charging cable taken, there was no damage.”

Leslie Plumb, who has lived in the street for about 25 years, said that while there had been incidents of vandalism before it was not on this scale. She described the road as usually “very safe”, adding: “This is about as scandalous as Queen Street gets.”

Police are investigating.