THE victim of a £10,000 burglary says police have dropped the case because it is “not important enough”.
Raiders took a ride-on lawn mower, petrol lawnmower, rotovator, motorcycle trailer and other equipment from Phillip Jackman’s locked container in Dedham between 9pm on August 12 and 7am on August 13.
They used a key to unlock the container and secured it behind them to cover their tracks.
Despite asking police officers to follow up three lines of enquiry, including CCTV footage from a nearby Shell garage, the case has been closed.
He said: “I was astonished when the police sergeant said on the phone, ‘Well, it’s not as if anyone was murdered, is it?’.
“It’s no wonder there is so much crime when thieves are simply allowed to get away with it because the police cannot be bothered.
“After they spoke with management at Shell, it was agreed the CCTV wouldn’t yield a vehicle registration number but it’s potentially a vital piece of evidence.
“When the forensic officer visited me, she stated the police didn’t need a car registration from the footage, just a vehicle description and the time of day because other cameras along the A12 could then be examined.
“I relayed this to the police sergeant and it was met with silence followed by ‘Oh yes, I suppose we could’.”
The container is in a field in Birchwood Road and is accessed via a neighbouring field. It is believed the suspects drove away towards the A12.
Mr Jackman, 55, and his wife Fiona returned discovered a hole in the fence when they returned from a shopping trip and discovered the break-in.
Mr Jackman said: “There’s also the issue of how the thieves obtained a key to the container.”
He has been lodged a complaint about the police response with the Independent Police Complaints Commission and with Roger Hirst, Essex Police and Crime Commissioner.
An Essex Police spokesman said: “Every crime reported to us is subject to an investigation to establish what evidence exists.
“Prioritising limited resources so police can attend and investigate first those crimes which have the highest level of threat, risk and harm to the public is essential.
“In spite of that, in this case the victim of the crime has clearly not received the level of victim care we would expect and we apologise for that.”