'Brazen' thieves target Newport vape shop
A shop owner says he feels like he has to keep his goods under lock and key after being targeted by thieves.
Thomas Peach, who runs the Sluice Juice vape shop in Newport’s St Mary’s Street, said he never expected to have to worry about things being stolen in the town.
But after noticing that his tester e-cigs had been taken, he checked CCTV in the hope of catching those responsible.
And after posting the video online, he said the support from friends, neighbours and fellow business owners has been incredible.
“We’ve been open a year and it has only happened once,” he said.
“They were so brazen – you can see them look straight into the camera.
“There’s a lot of thefts in vape shops, especially if it’s busy. But Newport is a great area, so you don’t expect it. That’s why we had the tester units out.
“When something like this happens, you don’t really want to do it again. Now we feel we need to lock the cabinets, which is obviously not what we want to do.”
Mr Peach has been in touch with police, but said that investigations have been slow going.
“I get the feeling the thieves are not from around here,” he said.
“If they’re chancers, they’ve got away with it. They’re gone.”
Since sharing the CCTV footage on Facebook, Mr Peach has received a great deal of support from friends and fellow shop owners.
The video has been shared more than 80 times, and there have been dozens of comments offering advice.
“It has been really nice to see people coming together,” Mr Peach said.
“People didn’t agree with it in the town originally – a lot of town’s have vape shops.
“But it’s nice to see the community come together on this.
“And we always dip back in. We do any charity work we can to help.”
Anybody with information about the thieves should contact police on 101.
