Shop owner in shock after £100k Pokémon cards theft

A Peterborough gaming shop owner has spoken of his shock and distress after Pokémon trading cards and cash worth an estimated £80,000-£100,000 were stolen during a burglary.

The break-in took place at Collectors Corner in Orton Southgate, on Tuesday night, as first reported by the Peterborough Telegraph.

The owner said CCTV footage showed a lone suspect spending about 25 minutes forcing his way through a quadruple-glazed window at the store in Culley Court.

Juliano Scibelli said: "It's everything I've built; to have someone come in and take that in one night is devastating; I'm still in shock; I haven't even been able to go back to the shop yet."

The 34-year-old started his online trading cards business nearly 15 years ago. He set up his physical store recently and said enthusiasts from all over the country visit.

He said the man was seen filling bags with high-value trading cards, some individually worth £2,000-£5,000, and entire sealed boxes valued at up to £4,000 each.

Some £8,000 in cash was taken from the till.

He also expressed frustration at what he felt was a "lack of urgency" shown towards crimes involving trading card businesses.

He said Cambridgeshire Police took "about six hours to attend after the burglary was reported".

"I was panicking. I've been robbed of everything I have. It is ridiculous how casual they [police] were about it," he said.

"If this was a jeweller, it would be front-page news.

"There's this stigma that it's 'just cardboard', but some of these cards are worth more than cars or even houses, and it needs to be taken seriously."

Since the incident, Scibelli said he had been "overwhelmed" with support from trading card enthusiasts, receiving more than 1,200 messages in a single day offering donations and financial help.

"It's such a good community, but it's heart-breaking that it's come from something like this," he said.

A police spokesperson said: "We are investigating a burglary which took place between 6pm on 27 and 9am on 28 January at Culley Court in Peterborough. Cash and high-value trading cards were stolen.

"We can confirm officers attended on a scheduled appointment around five hours after the incident was reported.

"As the suspects were no longer in the area and there was no immediate danger, other incidents took priority."

Anyone with information has been asked to contact the police.

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