AssetID: 55328657
Headline: Shocking video shows burglars targeting cafe twice in one night as boss says she fears the business won't survive
Caption: WORDS BYLINE: Dee Lukasik A café boss has spoken of her shock and despair after a burglar raided her business twice in one night. Marta Squires, who owns Puddings in Maidstone town centre, says she doesn’t know if her coffee shop will survive this latest financial blow, estimating the break-ins could cost her as much as £1,000. But she said she was reassured by the quick police response, which saw the thief nabbed red-handed and jailed the following day. The incidents, which happened late on December 2 and in the early hours of the following day, were caught on the Week Street café’s CCTV. After smashing his way in through the front door, footage shows Danny Crawley taking an iPad, money from a tips jar, and ripping out the till drawer. Officers were called at about 2.45am on December 3 and found the 44-year-old inside the premises with some of the stolen items. After reviewing the footage, they found he had previously broken into the premises just hours before and stolen more items. Investigators tracked his movements to the rear of the Hazlitt Theatre in nearby Earl Street, where they found the till drawer with a small amount of loose change left near it. Crawley of Godstow Road, Abbey Wood, London admitted burglary and criminal damage at Sevenoaks Magistrates’ Court the following day and was sentenced to 20 weeks' imprisonment. He was also ordered to repay the £154 cash he stole to the business. Ms Squires, who has been running the café for the last eight years, said she was alerted to the burglary by an employee. “She said, ‘Marta, I think someone broke in’. “I didn’t even know what I was going into. I was panicking and running to the shop,” she said. While she was waiting outside for the crime scene investigators to arrive, Marta began checking her CCTV remotely and immediately saw a man stumbling inside the tearoom. She told KentOnline he appeared to be intoxicated, saying: “He lit a cigarette inside. He was falling over. “At first we thought he only grabbed the tips and my iPad, but then we realised he had been in earlier and ripped the whole till out.” The emotional impact, she said, was worse than the financial loss. “It is not just the money”, she explained. “Someone walked into our space and treated it like nothing. “We built this place ourselves with our own hands. This is our baby. And he just tore through it.” Marta said the break-in comes at a time when running a small business has become extremely difficult. She estimated the total loss for replacing the front door, the new cash drawer, the money in the till and the staff tips jar at about £1,000. “Maybe that’s not a lot,” she said. “But we sell coffee for £3.50. We are not a chain. Every cost hits us. “Everything is more expensive. The new budget is really affecting us. “Doors, glass, lost earnings, it all adds up. I do not know if we will survive this year.” Marta was particularly upset about the man stealing tips meant for her staff. She said: “These girls grew up here. This was their first job. They are loyal and they care. I don’t want them paying for someone else’s crime. “Why can’t he just get a job instead of stealing from honest, hardworking people?” Despite the distress, Marta praised the police response, with two female officers coming to check back on her the following day and a phone call within 24 hours of the burglary to tell her the culprit had been sentenced. She said: “Knowing he was behind bars finally let me breathe. Until then, it felt like he could still be somewhere nearby.” After posting about the break-in on social media, Marta says she was overwhelmed by the support of customers and neighbours. “People came just to give us a hug,” she added. “They left tips to replace the ones stolen. “The messages were beautiful. For one horrible man, there were hundreds of amazing people.” After the sentencing, investigating officer PC Tom Zsinko spoke of the “hugely detrimental impact” retail crime has on the wider community. He said: “Beyond the cost of repairs and the loss of profit to the shop owners, patrons may see rising prices as businesses try to recoup losses caused by thefts. “For independent businesses, such incidents can make the difference between being able to continue trading or closing their doors for good. “We are pleased that our officers were able to apprehend Crawley and secure immediate justice for his actions.”
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