Man and woman arrested following spate of watch and alcohol thefts

Police received a report of a man who asked to try on a £2,000 watch before running out of the shop wearing it without paying

A man and a woman have been arrested after a spate of thefts across Belfast, including a number of watches and alcohol.

Police received a report of a theft of a watch worth £2,000 from a jeweller’s on Arthur Street in Belfast City Centre on Sunday, 2nd November when a man asked to try on a watch before running out of the shop wearing it without paying.

Officers arrested the man on Wednesday in the Albert Street area of West Belfast and he and a 29 year old woman were subsequently arrested for a similar offence which occurred on Royal Avenue on 22nd October where a man and woman asked to see a watch, the woman left the store and the man snatched two watches before running out of the shop.

The pair were also arrested for the theft of £300 worth of alcohol from a shop on Kennedy Way on 3rd November.

Sergeant Rice said: “We received a report at around 4.40pm on Sunday, 2nd November of a theft in the Arthur Street area, where a man had asked to try on a watch valued at almost £2,000. He then ran out of the store, still wearing the watch, without paying.

“Officers attended and, following enquiries, a 27-year-old man was subsequently arrested on Albert Street, Belfast, on suspicion of theft on Wednesday, 5th November.

“He was further arrested on suspicion of a similar theft which occurred on Wednesday, 22nd October, when a male and female were seen entering a store in the Royal Avenue area. The man asked to see a watch and the woman then left the store. When the watch was brought out to show the man, he grabbed it, causing another watch to fall to the floor. He snatched this one up as well before running out of the shop without paying. The total value of both watches was £700.

“A 29-year-old woman was also arrested on Albert Street, Belfast, on Wednesday, 5th November, on suspicion of theft in relation to the Royal Avenue incident.

“Both parties were further arrested on suspicion of a theft which took place in the Kennedy Way area of Belfast on Monday, 3rd November, when alcohol with a value of almost £300 was stolen.

“The woman has since been charged with two counts of theft and is due to appear before Laganside Court on Wednesday, 3rd December. As is usual procedure, the charges will be reviewed by the Public Prosecution Service.

“Our enquiries are ongoing and anyone with information can contact police on the 101 number, quoting reference 1097 of 22/10/25.

“Alternatively, you can submit a report online using the non-emergency reporting form via http://www.psni.police.uk/makeareport/ or contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 or online at http://crimestoppers-uk.org/.”

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