'Professional shoplifters' steal more than £1,000 worth of jewellery from Exmouth shop

An Exmouth clothes shop which had more than £1,000 worth of jewellery stolen by 'professional shoplifters' is warning the town's business to be extra vigilant.

At around 11.30am on Thursday, March 12, a man and a woman entered Caramel Clothing on The Strand and proceeded to steal 64 'Joma' bracelets, believed to be worth more than £1,000.

Caramel Clothing's manager, Sarah, told Nub News that she was 'very angry, shocked and frankly embarrassed' by the theft.

Sarah told Nub News: "It has been so lovely to hear of the goodwill for small independent retailers over the last few days. Thank you, we really do appreciate your support.

"Unfortunately there are some who wish to steal from us rather than support us. I have deliberated over whether to make it public but some of you could help us find this couple.

"On Thursday, March 12, at 11.30am we were visited by some professional shoplifters. They managed to steal 64 of our Joma bracelets at a value of over £1000.

"Obviously we are all very angry, shocked and frankly embarrassed at how they managed to do this. The CCTV shows how slick they were at distracting the member of staff and how friendly they were towards her.

"They are clearly going to try to sell these bracelets. If you are offered a Joma bracelet and it does not come in a Joma gift bag, the chances are that it could be stolen.

"I imagine they will be sold online on a seller site rather than in person. Joma Jewellery do not allow any stockist to sell on eBay or Amazon."

"If anyone has any information regarding this couple please get in touch. Thank you to all our lovely customers for your continued support."

A spokesperson for Devon and Cornwall Police said: "Police are investigating the theft of a number of silver bracelets collectively worth around £1,000 from Caramel clothing on the Strand, Exmouth. The incident occurred at around 11.30am on Thursday, March 12."

Anyone who has any information about the crime is asked to call police on 101 quoting CR/022048/20.