May 11, 2021 12.26 pm This story is over 34 months old

’15 minute robber’ breaks in to Lincoln escape rooms

It has delayed reopening

Escape Lincoln at Sessions House on Monks Road was broken into, with five laptops stolen. | Photo: Escape Lincoln
By Local Democracy Reporter

An escape room business in Lincoln is swallowing a bitter mouthful of irony after it was broken into by robbers.

Thousands of pounds worth of damage was caused in the break-in at Escape Lincoln, Sessions House on Monks Road on May 7.

The perpetrator, 41-year-old Lee Hessey of Beaumont Fee in Lincoln, breached security systems before stealing five laptops and damaging the cabling connecting the laptops to their relevant escape rooms.

It has been estimated that it will cost between £2,000 and £3,000 to repair and replace the damages, a huge financial blow for a business that has stayed closed for over a year due to COVID-19.

Five laptops were stolen from the site’s control room. | Photo: Escape Lincoln

Typically in an escape room, the objective is to make it out, but this person’s objective was to make it inside.

The Sessions House site at Lincoln College opened in November 2018, with another site on George Street, off Great Northern Terrace, opening a year later in December 2019.

General Manager at Escape Lincoln, Rosie Smith said: “It’s just such a shame that this has happened a week before we were due to reopen.

The break-in has delayed the business reopening after a year of lockdown. | Photo: Escape Lincoln

“We’ve been closed for over a year and have suffered massively as an independent business.

“We’re hoping it will only be a matter of weeks before we can replace the items and reopen fully.

“We really want to thank Lincolnshire Police for their speedy response to the theft and their excellent officers who identified the burglar and detained him.”

Lee Hessey was charged with burglary and remanded custody before appearing at Lincoln Magistrates Court on May 10.

Benjamin Whitehand and Tom Owen, owners of Escape Lincoln, said: “There is a little irony in an escape room being broken into! We have nicknamed him the 15-minute robber, and with an all-time top score of just 15 minutes in and out, he will be at the top of our leader board for some time!”

Escape Lincoln’s second site in the city, which has five escape rooms at Vulcan Park on George Street, will reopen as normal on May 17, with customers encouraged to book online.