Watch as brazen thief breaks into London garage to steal man’s ‘priceless’ guitars given as gifts by family

13 November 2024, 16:17

Brazen thief caught on CCTV stealing from south London garage

Shocking video shows a brazen thief rummaging around a man's garage in south London, before stealing several items including two emotionally "priceless" guitars.

The man can be seen picking through the belongings of Mark Horney in his council estate lockup in Bermondsey in the early hours of Sunday morning.

Mr Horney told LBC that the man picked the lock of his garage and found his way in, in an opportunist burglary.

Unbeknown to the thief, Mr Horney has CCTV in his garage, which captured the theft.

He stole two guitars - gifts from his parents and his uncle respectively, both made 20 years ago or more - as well as various other items.

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None of the items were insured.

The CCTV footage was uploaded to Mr Horney's phone automatically, but unfortunately he had turned it off that night as he was working in his job as a motorcycle courier.

Once he was aware of the theft, Mr Horney alerted police and they sent a forensics team round to take fingerprints, he said.

He said he was hopeful that police can find the culprit - even if the goods have already been sold on.

Mr Horney said other people living nearby said they thought they recognised the suspect and he had alerted officers to the estate where he lives.

He said that he was dismayed by the brazen actions of the thief.

"I'm really upset," he said. "It's caused my anxiety to go through the roof."

He added: "These people have no sympathy for other people. They just come in, take your stuff and sell it to make some quick money.

"It doesn't mean anything to them other than the money they can make from it, but it means a lot to me."

Mr Horney hasn't played the guitars for some time, but said he played them when he was in school and was hoping to rekindle his hobby before they were stolen.

He said he also felt his local area was "definitely" going through an uptick in crime recently, with his friend's moped also recently being stolen.

Anyone who has any information about the guitar theft shoul call 101, referencing the number CAD 0949/10Nov24.