SHOCKING images show how thieves used a blowtorch to break into a house and steal £33,500 worth of vehicles – while the owners slept upstairs.
Kerrie West, from Tideswell, Derbyshire, shared photographs of her front door after criminals used the appliance to burn a hole in the PVC door to gain entry.
The thieves then stole wallets from the home before finding the keys to Kerrie’s “pride and joy” Audi S1 – valued at around £25,000.
They also stole a limited edition 2016 KTM 125 motorbike – valued around £4,500 and a 2018 electric Devinci Ebike, which usually costs over £4,000.
Kerrie was woken up around 2am in the early hours of Tuesday morning and spotted the two culprits placing some of the stolen items in the back of a dark transit van.
However, before the family were able to confront the robbers, the duo managed to speed off with the expensive items.
Kerrie uploaded images onto Facebook later on that day to show the state her door was left in and appeal to people to keep a look out for her stolen vehicles.
She captioned her post on: “Stolen. Please share asap. My absolute pride and joy has been nicked.” Kerrie then goes onto the list the stolen items.
She said: “Around 2am in the morning two lads in a dark transit van broke into the house and took the keys. Not only this they have taken my purse, my dad’s wallet and other things.
“Please share”.
The images show the front door has a holed in the middle of the plastic melted away with parts of the key lock charred from the initial attempt.
Another image shows a yellow Audi S1 in pristine condition with personalised number plates.
The next image is a white and blue limited edition 2018 KTM 125 motorbike.
The last image shows a customised dark grey Devinci ebike out on a mountainous terrain.
One user wrote under the post: “Absolute b******s. Hope they’re found very quickly and given their karma. Sorry that low life scum have done this.”
Another said: “Never heard of a blowtorch being used…you’re lucky you’re still here to write this post.
“…absolute scummy b******* they are.”
One user wrote: “The audacity of using a blowtorch now to force entry.”
Another commented: “Wow, they could have burned the house down and killed people.”
Derbyshire Constabulary today confirmed they were investigating the theft and said they believed it was linked to other break-ins in the area.
Their spokeswoman said: “At 3.15am on December 15, a house in Church Lane, Tideswell, was broken into.
“The thieves took a wallet and a set of keys, which they used to steal the victim’s yellow Audi S1. They also took a motocross trail bike and an electric Devinci bike.
“We are linking the theft to a similar crime that took place in the village that morning. At 3.50am, two men broke into a house in Tithe Barn Close. They searched the house but didn’t steal anything.
“In both cases, a blow torch was used to break in through the door.
“This is an unusual crime and the victim’s were understandably left very upset. We are investigating and have been speaking to villagers to gather CCTV from the area.
“If you have any information, we would urge you to get in touch quoting reference 20000660662.”
