The burglar got away with just £7, but for the new owner of Highgate Greens and Blooms, in Highgate High Street, the theft on March 8 cost him more in repairs and time.
The shop’s owner Lennie Armstrong had come to work early that Saturday to get ahead on what could be a busy weekend, but instead spent the day with forensic police investigators.
He said: “Somebody broke the side window, realised they couldn’t get in and smashed the door. He must have been a small person to get his weight through that panel.
Thief smash a panel in the front door of Highgate Greens and Blooms and crawled through and emerged with £7 in coins (Image: Nathalie Raffray)
“Police took the CCTV and have given it to forensics to see if there’s a match.
“Who burgles a greengrocer? They took £7 in coins. I hope he’ll be banged to rights.”
Lennie, who took over the store on Christmas Day, has made changes including changing the name, replacing the awning, introducing cold and chilled food, and expanding the range of flowers and plants.
The 25-year-old added: “It was all going so well. A big sunny weekend was forecast so I got in nice and early to get ahead of it.
“It was disappointing and inconvenient. I’m disappointed that someone wants to target a small business and it was inconvenient in the sense that I couldn’t do anything, I couldn’t touch anything as I had to wait for forensics so I couldn’t serve customers.”
He suggested the thief could make better use of his time and energy.
He said: “It was three in the morning. If he took that much effort to get up at that time of the morning to smash some glass, what could he do to make some proper money somewhere else – maybe start working the market?”
