Heartless thieves who stole six-year-old boy's birthday present leave Hilsea family 'devastated' and 'violated'

Jo Hunt, of Gatcombe Drive in Hilsea, had numerous items stolen from her garage last night (March 16), which included a bike that her husband Jon had been building for their son, Henry’s sixth birthday.

The bike had taken months to build but was snatched by thieves before the little lad had a chance to ride it.

Other things pilfered during the garage raid included four motorbikes, a paddleboard, helmets, boots, armour and kids wetsuits.

The motorbikes alone are thought to be worth around £15,000 and include a KTM 200 EXC in Orange (rekluse clutch), an Osset 24- inch in red and black, an Osset 16-inch in red and black, and a PW50 in black and blue.

And in a furious twist of fate, thieves struck again this afternoon, where they attempted to steal the family’s car.

Speaking to The News, Jo said: ‘My son is in tears and my husband was crying, he was here when it happened. It was my son's sixth birthday on Tuesday and the bike was a gift.

‘We are devastated.’

Speaking of the first break-in last night, Jo added: ‘My husband woke up at about 6.15am to walk the dog and he came back about 6.45am and then realised that the garage was open. He opened up the garage to realise that everything was gone.

‘We've got CCTV from our neighbour at half-past 10 of them coming here last night and they were here for 10 minutes trying to get into the garage.

‘They then disappeared and came back just after midnight and took everything.

‘Unfortunately, CCTV drops out exactly where we need it.’

After realising that her garage had been broken into, Jo took to social media to share the incident in a quest for CCTV footage.

In which she branded the thieves ‘scum bags’ and urged people to make the stolen good ‘too hot to handle’ by sharing her status.

The post has since been shared more than 180 times in the hope to find the stolen items.

After the initial incident this morning, Jo's house was targeted again at around 12.45pm.

The 35-year-old- said: 'They had balaclavas on. I'd seen them get out of the car and chased two of them and I knew it was them. They tried to steal my car this time.

'I feel absolutely violated.'

Hampshire Constabulary is investigating the incidents and have asked for people with information to come forward.

A police spokeswoman said: ‘An investigation is underway and we are currently looking at lines of enquiry available to us in order to locate the items and those involved.’

In a further statement following this afternoon’s events, the police spokeswoman added: ‘It was reported to us that two males had been seen acting suspiciously outside of a property on Gatcombe Drive, they then stole a vehicle from outside of the property.

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‘Officers attended and are currently at the scene and making enquiries to locate the two males.

‘The vehicle has since been recovered.’

Anyone with information has been asked to contact 101 quoting reference 44220105131.

Alternatively, information can be submitted via the Hampshire Constabulary website.

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

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