Barnsley Antique Centre burglar’s fall caught on CCTV

Two burglars who stole and damaged antiques worth thousands of pounds from a small business have been captured on CCTV.

Barnsley Antiques Centre shared footage which appeared to show one thief fall over the debris, get struck by a number of items falling from above, then hit his head on a light fitting.

Cinnamon Parker, who owns the shop on Doncaster Road with her husband, Glen, said the cost of items broken or stolen in the incident on Tuesday would likely be “over the £10,000 mark”.

A spokesperson for South Yorkshire Police said an investigation had been launched, and asked anyone with information to get in touch.

Mrs Parker said: “It’s not just the financial loss, it is emotional loss, the mental stress that it has put upon us.

“We work really hard in this business and in getting to where we want it to be, and then somebody comes in and trashes it. It’s just heartbreaking.”

Just before 02:00 GMT, the couple had been awoken by the alarm system which was connected to her mobile phone.

“The police were there within 10 minutes of us putting the call through, they were really fast,” she said.

The thieves had entered the building and gotten into the shop in the basement from above, she said, and were not caught at the scene.

The police spokesperson said: “Upon arrival, officers found the offenders had left the scene and that damage had been caused to the inside of the store.

“A number of items had also been stolen.”

Mrs Parker said there had been “phenomenal” support from the community.

“It’s been amazing to know that there are people out there who really want this shop to continue and to thrive,” she said.

“When something like this happens, it’s easy to think, ‘why are we still doing this? We should just pack it all in and close the shop’.

“But that [support] has really made us feel like we should keep going, we shouldn’t let just two people ruin this whole business for us.

“It’s onwards and upwards.”