Masked thieves caught stealing £3k tools from van

A local businessman says his livelihood has been stolen after thieves broke into his van. Sam Thomas was asleep in bed when the masked thieves “targeted” his work van in the early hours of Wednesday morning, taking around £3,000 worth of tools.

CCTV shows the men walking up Sam’s street in Huyton shortly before 5am. They then open the side door of his van and make off with the tools, including some he has had since he was a kid. Moments later Sam went downstairs to make him and his fiancée a morning coffee and noticed what had happened.

The 26-year-old told the ECHO how it was the “worst thing in the world” when he discovered what happened. He said: “I woke up to go to work, I got up to make us a coffee and walked outside and I saw that my van sliding door was open, I knew straight away that I had been robbed. It’s the worst thing in the world.

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“I'm self employed so these tools are my livelihood. Luckily my business partner has been able to pick me up for work today, but they have taken some of his tools that were in my van as well.

“I have worked my a*** off to get where I am and it has all been taken from me. There is around £3,000 worth of tools. But that isn’t even the point, it's all the little things I've had stolen too, like my chisels which I have had since I was a kid and all the tools I have accumulated over the years.”

The 26-year-old is saving for his wedding next year, as well as paying for his mortgage, and is concerned about having to replace the tools. He said: “I have a mortgage and I’m getting married next year so I have a wedding to save for, everything has come at once. This is my livelihood and now I’m having to pay out for new tools. All I do is work, I work six or seven days a week and now I can't even do that because I have no tools.”

Sam is asking for people to keep an eye out for Milwaukee tools with ‘ST’ written on them in the Huyton and Liverpool areas.

A spokesperson for Merseyside Police said: "We received a report that a van had been broken into on Kingsway in Huyton and a quantity of work tools stolen overnight on the 10/11 September. Enquiries are ongoing. Anyone with information is asked to DM @MerPolCC or contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 quoting reference 24000782974."