Sutton business owner heartbroken after vandals ransack her shop and cause thousands in damage

Spare Moments and Sew Wedding on George Street in Sutton was targeted in the early hours of Wednesday morning, smashing up the shop and stealing a wedding dress, veils and wedding jewellery.

Heartbroken owner Pam Frankham arrived to find the whole shop had been destroyed, causing thousands of pounds worth of damage.

Everything of high value had been stolen, and other stock was smashed and shop fittings damaged in a mindless act of vandalism.

61-year-old Pam from Nottingham explained: “The mess was just devastating – shelves had been tipped over smashing expensive glasses, and our whole stock of wool and fabric has had to be binned due to glass shards being embedded in them – it is just so upsetting.

"I have put so much hard work into the shop, only for it to be completely wrecked by mindless vandals in the space of a few hours.”

Pam has been operating as Sew Wedding Bridal Studio for seven and a half years, and opened Spare Moments alongside her bridal business in September of this year, selling wool, fabric and gifts, and running sewing classes for her customers.

The break-in happened between the hours of 12.30am and 6.30am on Wednesday morning.

Thieves targeted Sutton Rotary Club’s sleigh equipment just after midnight, taking the sleigh’s generator and battery power unit and cutting wires.

Pam’s shop on the same street was then broken into a short while later – although the two incidents have not been officially linked by officers.

Stock was damaged and jewellery was stolen in the raid, alongside the theft of a wedding dress and bridal accessories in two separate trips, before leaving the shop around 6.30am.

Pam now has the arduous task of cleaning up the premises and restocking the shelves, which means she will remain closed until at least after Christmas.

"We are trying to clean everything up. but there is just so much mess - it's absolutely devastating and it feels never-ending” she continued

"We are working our way through, but it is the entire shop that has been smashed up, there is glass everywhere.

"We are having to dispose of our whole wool collection because we can’t risk glass fragments remaining, and that goes for our rolls and rolls of fabric too.

"It’s not just what they’ve taken, what has been left behind is unusable too and has to be disposed of.

"There is no way that we can reopen the shop this side of Christmas.”

A spokesperson for Nottinghamshire Police said: “The incident is thought to have happened in the early hours of Wednesday December 8 and we are now appealing to anyone who witnessed the break in to get in touch with us.”

Anyone with information is urged to get in touch with Nottinghamshire Police on 101, quoting incident 122 of 8 December 2021.

Information can also be reported anonymously through Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

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