AN AYR community hub that was the victim of a housebreaking have issued a warning to thieves after their high-tech CCTV helped police catch the suspect in less than 24 hours.
Tsukure Hub was paid a visit by a callous crook who snatched volunteers’ personal belongings from the charity, including a teenage boy’s guitar on Sunday, August 9.
A 42-year-old man has been jailed for eight months after he was caught by the hub’s powerful cameras which helped identify him and recover the items from a flat in Wilson Street.
The hub were helped with a huge response on social media with 15,000 people viewing their shared CCTV footage.
And Adam Short, of Tsukure, has told how the quick response in the community is a line in the sand that thieves shouldn’t dare cross.
He told the Advertiser: “This will serve as a deterrent for sure. In less than 24 hours we have caught the man responsible.
“That’s the line in the sand, the community of Ayr has come together with a strong statement here. This type of behaviour is not acceptable and if you cross it we have a high definition camera system and we will hunt you down.”
Among the stolen items was a guitar belonging to a 17-year-old named Daniel, who busks on Ayr High Street, and a volunteers laptop.
Adam has told how within days Daniel had his guitar back and was back doing what he loved.
He said: “I was really concerned about getting his guitar back to him. He’s changed the guitar strings, the guitar is fine it wasn’t damaged. He’s out busking again today with it so he’s quite happy.”
The thief initially entered the front door of the building on the High Street by using his bike wheel to wedge open the door which had to be repaired by the charity funded hub.
But he was caught on camera with Adam now wanting to help other businesses with their CCTV .
He added: “He’s been caught in high definition and we were able to enhance the image and give that to the police.
“We had high quality CCTV installed on our front doors in the hope we’d never have to use it, but it’s worked well in this case.
“It’s not as expensive as people think, it’s all about working intelligently, we are more than happy to help people install it.”
Chief Inspector Brian Anderson, Area Commander at South Ayrshire said “Housebreakings are despicable crimes, particularly when a local charity is targeted given the great work they are doing in the local community.”
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