May 17, 2021 11.48 am This story is over 34 months old

Hooded man smashes into Lincoln art shop

It has left the owner £600 out of pocket

Lapid Art on Steep Hill in Lincoln was broken into just before midnight on Friday, May 14.

The owner of a shop on Steep Hill in Lincoln is calling for more CCTV in the area after a recent break-in left her over £600 out of pocket.

Gabbie Jones, who owns Lapid Art at 19 Steep Hill, said her shop was broken into shortly before midnight on Friday, May 14. When she turned up to work the next day the window had been boarded up by police and she had to close for the whole morning on Saturday, which is usually her busiest day.

She told The Lincolnite that CCTV shows a hooded man trying to put the window through with his fist before coming back with a brick.

A brick was thrown through the window.

She said it then shows him reach around the other side of the window before taking a number of items worth over a total of £160, including a Megalodon tooth, a large Orthoceras (a big plate with fossils on it), a few small crystal quartz points, an Agate necklace, and a paperweight.

Gabbie now has to pay for a new window to be put in and other repairs, which she believes will cost over £600.

The window needs to be replaced and some stock was stolen during the break in.

She said: “The shop is in two parts and in the smaller side where you walk in there was glass everyehere. Shelves were covered in glass and there were fossils, crystals and other bits all over the floor.”

This isn’t the first business in the uphill and Bailgate area of the city to be broken into over the last year, something that really worries Gabbie.

She added: “In the first lockdown Debutante Boutique had a window put through and I’ve been told that other properties in the Bailgate have had this happen over the last year.

“It really worries me. I’m going to have to install a new security system. Also, the CCTV on Steep Hill faces down the hill and not towards any shops, so we don’t have any protection. We need more CCTV uphill.

“We are back open, but it has been playing on my mind and made me paranoid that it will happen again.

“Every penny I make goes to support my family, but I am now over £600 out of pocket due to this. I am also 22 weeks pregnant and this has caused me a lot of stress.”

The visible damage done to the window.

Lapid Art was first established in 1995 and Gabbie took over the running of the family business in February 2020 after her uncle, who ran it previously, sadly passed away in December 2019.

The shop specialises in crystals, fossils, minerals and jewellery and is open Thursday to Sunday.

No arrests have been made yet, but a spokesperson for Lincolnshire Police said: “Our Investigating Officers would like to speak to anyone who has information that may assist our inquiry.

“Please get in touch if you can help with any details or may have been offered the items for sale. Please email [email protected] or call 101 quoting incident 36 of May 15.”