SENTIMENTAL JEWELLERY AND VALUABLE ITEMS STOLEN: FLOOD VICTIMS ARE TARGETED BY HEARTLESS LOOTERS
Dr Thomas Green locked up and left his
house in York on Sunday after 2ft of water filled the ground floor. He
returned to find opportunistic thieves had stolen a number of
sentimental items
It
has emerged that looters are targeting homes evacuated by flood victims
to steal sentimental valuables such as jewellery and laptops.
Householders
yesterday spoke of their devastation at returning to damaged properties
to discover priceless family heirlooms missing.
Residents
living along the River Foss in York, who had been forced to flee their
homes, returned last night to find burglars had broken in and stolen
valuables.
Dr
Thomas Green locked up and left his £570,000 house on Sunday after 2ft
of water filled the ground floor. In his absence, looters swiped
priceless family heirlooms and electronics.
The haul included a diamond ring belonging to his wife's great-grandmother, silverware, a camera and a tablet computer.
He
said: 'It was clear that they were taking small, expensive items that
they could hide on their person. The TV and other large valuables were
left behind.
'Some of what was taken was insured and easily replaced, but some of the sentimental items we'll never get back.'
Ben
Cave and his partner Aimee Barlow, of York, were also targeted but the
suspects were apparently spooked before taking anything.. Ms Barlow told
The Sun: 'I woke up at 2am to a loud bang.
'In the morning I saw our back gate had been smashed in. They must have realised we were in and ran off.'
Other
neighbours said they felt 'preyed upon' by opportunist thieves, while
others said they are considering staying in their homes to guard against
looters.
One unnamed resident said: 'I feel attacked. We're truly being kicked when we're down. It's unbelievably cruel.'
Police
said it was 'impossible to comprehend' why the heartless opportunists
would want to bring further suffering to those already hit by the
crisis.
Officers stepped up patrols last night amid fears that looters in white vans were targeting flooded houses.
Biker
gangs, including The Drifters, Broken Bones, Pyeratz and Nuntaii
Mortis, also stepped in to deter looters in the Calderdale region of
Yorkshire.
Night-time
patrols of Hebden Bridge and Mytholmroyd are being carried out by
bikers from Bradford and beyond, with the blessing of police.
Dave
Cariss, of The Drifters MCC, said: 'We saw people post on Facebook that
they were trying to deter looters, and I thought who better to do that
but 20-30 burly bikers.'
Acting
Superintendent Mark Grange, of North Yorkshire Police, said: 'It is
extremely disappointing to see victims of the floods being targeted in
this way.
'It
is impossible to comprehend why anyone would want to bring further
suffering to those who are already in a very vulnerable situation.
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