SCOTLAND COMPUTERS STOLEN FROM SMALL BUSINESSScotsman.com News - Scotland - Edinburgh - Work is stolen as burglars ransack flatWork is stolen as burglars ransack flat

LINDA SUMMERHAYES


A COUPLE who had £20,000 worth of work stolen when their home was ransacked have offered a reward for information leading to its safe return.

Freelance photographer Janeanne Gilchrist was out enjoying the sunshine over the weekend when thieves used a crowbar to force their way into the couple’s basement flat.

Once inside, the criminals stole computers and electronic equipment worth £8000, which held contract work Miss Gilchrist had been working on for the last three months.

Her partner, graphic designer Will Beeslaar, 28, also had files stored on the computers, and Miss Gilchrist believes that the self-employed pair lost work worth a total of £20,000 in Sunday’s raid.

There were also personal items on the computer such as a memoir she was writing about her father who died recently in Spain. "Our studio was totally ransacked," she said. "They ripped everything out of the cupboards and made a total mess of the place.

"The work we have lost is irreplaceable and has left us devastated. It’s no use to anyone else but, for us, it’s vital we get it back."

The couple said they are prepared to pay up to £1000 for any information leading to the return of their possessions. One neighbour has told the couple he saw someone acting suspiciously in the area at around 2pm.

When they returned to their Easter Road flat, they discovered their studio had been wrecked and there was paperwork strewn all over the floor.

Among the items thieves took were Miss Gilchrist’s Olympus digital camera and lenses, her i-Pod and all its accessories and her G4 Powerbook computer. They also took a range of cables, including the telephone lead so the couple were left unable to use the house phone.

"It all seems very deliberate and the things they took, they took intentionally.

"It does seem as if someone has cased the premises, which I don’t want to think too much about," said Miss Gilchrist.

But it is the files on the equipment that Miss Gilchrist, 34, is keen to have returned as they related to work the couple had been contracted to do by a range of clients.

Miss Gilchrist was in the midst of a photographic project for the Scottish Arts Council which she had planned to submit in the next few weeks.

A police spokeswoman said today: "This is a serious theft which has affected a small business.

"We would like to appeal to anyone who might have seen anything suspicious or who might have been sold this computer equipment to please come forward and contact police."