Gardening equipment worth over £500 stolen from Sunderland retirement home

The incident took place at around 2pm on Monday, July 13 when an opportunistic thief pounced to steal the equipment before driving off in a black car while gardener Andrew was working.

One of the residents witnessed the crime from her window and tried to alert the gardener.

Andrew, aged 40, has been left out of pocket and says that the residents at the Ashbrooke home have been left shaken by the theft.

He said: “Unfortunately I’m now out of pocket because I have to replace the strimmers which are worth over £500 combined.

"So far, I’ve only managed to replace one, I’ll have to wait awhile for the other.

"It is also concerning that it is happening literally on the doorstep of the residents. I can’t imagine that they would expect to look out of their windows and see something like this.”

A spokeswoman for Northumbria Police commented: “Shortly before 2.30pm on July 13, we received a report of theft from a premises on Queen Alexandra Road, Sunderland.

”It was reported that a black car had pulled up at the property and an unknown offender took two petrol strimmers, before leaving the scene.

"Inquiries are ongoing and anyone with information is asked to contact police by using the “Tell Us Something” Page on our website, quoting log 627 130720.”

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