An East Lothian bricklayer has had their car window smashed by thoughtless thieves in an attempt to steal his tools.
Alexander Irvine, from Haddington, says that his car window was completely destroyed in Haddington between the night time hours of Thursday July 7 and the morning of Friday 8. Tools as well as clothes were strewn across the car as the alleged culprits rifled through Alex’s car.
The self-employed bricky has said that he informed Police Scotland as soon as he was made aware of the incident but that an officer was unable to come and see him until Sunday July 10. This forced Alex to conduct investigations himself by asking neighbours for information.
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He says the problem has become worse since lockdown with drug addicts targeting tradesmen increasingly. Alex says that he feels let down by the police’s response.
Thankfully nothing was taken from the vehicle as all of the expensive tools had been removed. But the 30-year-old says that he is unable to attend weekend jobs due to the incident.
On the break-in, he said: “It happened on Artillery Park betweenThursday night and Friday morning. They smashed the window and the tool bag was left upside down.
“The tool bag never had any valuable tools but just hammers and bolsters and stuff that I use for bricklaying. I rely on the car to get to my job and also use it to carry out other jobs like landscaping on my weekends.
“The break-in has meant that I won’t be able to carry out jobs on the weekend. It has cost me £75 through my insurance company to fix.
“Tradesman getting targeted is becoming quite common, especially since lockdown. There are also too many drug addicts in the local area - it is lucky that I took my more expensive tools out.
“I had to take a day off work to wait for the police to show up but no one came to take fingerprints. This was despite me calling several times over a span of seven hours.
“I was told I’d have to wait until Sunday for an officer to come out. So I went around the houses to see if anyone knew anything or had any cameras that might have captured what happened.
“Someone messaged me online and said that they heard two younger voices and a deeper voice but I haven’t heard anything else. I’m doing what the police should’ve done.
“A lot of self employed tradesmen are being targeted as it is not a good time at the moment with prices going up and folk are struggling. After lockdown a lot of folk are on drugs and lost their way in life, there is a bit of a societal breakdown.
“It has had a pretty devastating impact to be honest.”
Anyone with any information regarding the break in is advised to call Police Scotland on 101.
A Police Scotland spokesperson said: "On Friday July 8, police received a report of damage to a car on Artillery Park, Haddington. Officers will be speaking to the reporter to gather more information on this incident."
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