Rugby butchers praised for generosity and hard work after break-in

Joseph Morris Butchers, which is a family-run butchers with a shop in Central Park on Bryant Road, was broken into between the evening of December 22 and the early hours of December 23.

The break-in came just hours before their customers would start to turn up to collect their orders for Christmas,

Barry Scott, the Rugby store manager,said: “I was the first on the scene. I came in at 4am to get started and I was still blurry eyed from it being early and I saw doors open, fridges open and thought eggs had fallen out of the fridge but then it came to light we has been burgled.

“They took both of the cash drawers, stole the safe and three charity boxes, which were for Myton Hospice, Warwickshire’s First Responders and Christine’s Crew.”

As well as taking any money they could find, the thieves also created a mess in the shop.

Mr Scott said: “There were eggs on the counter and all over the floor and they sprayed fire extinguishers everywhere. They took lights out in the car park.

“We spoke to people in Aldi and they said there was a change in staff at 10.30pm and another at 1.20am and they said the lights went out on the CCTV footage at around 12.55am.

“It is clear that somebody knew what they were doing and it was well-thought out in advance.”

The staff at the Rugby store worked hard, along with some of the team from the South Kilworth shop, to clean up so they could open.

Mr Scott said: “We eventually opened at 11am but we lost five hours of trading. We made a decision to run a night crew to work through the night for security and to make sure everybody’s Christmas dinner got put on the table. We were lucky as none of the meat was touched or interfered.”

“We would like to thank all of our customers for their patience.”

In the two days before Christmas the team worked to get more than 680 orders out on time.

As well as working round the clock to get everyone’s orders out the team also donated their hard-earned tips to the three charities which had their boxes stolen.

Mr Scott said: “We donated the best part of our staff tips so the charities didn’t lose out. Some of these charities depend heavily on these donations so we donated the tips.”

Helen Morris, one of the directors of Joseph Morris, said: “They were clearly after cash and there wasn’t any on the premises except for change for the following day.

“The Rugby team were amazing and some working right through the day and night so people could get their orders. Some even worked 48 hour shifts. They all worked together to make sure it all got done. They also donated their tips to the charities and we will also be making a further donation to the charities too.”