BROTHERS Raja and Zahid Razzaq hoped that risking their lives to apprehend two brazen shoplifters would help put a stop to the crime wave that is terrorising their town.
But instead – after wrestling with the powerful robbers on the floor of their convenience store for 45 minutes – they claim the police ended up treating THEM like criminals.
The business owners are part of a growing number who now say that Leighton Buzzard in Bedfordshire has become “lawless” since the pandemic, with criminals carrying out violent break-ins with little fear of arrest.
Key to the problem is the closure of the town’s only police station, which has forced locals to turn detective – confronting and photographing the thieves.
But even after handing over masses of images and information, the cases are often dropped, with police officers citing a lack of evidence, it is claimed.
Widower Raja, 56, had just opened New Road Stores at 5.30am on August 18 when two robbers strolled inside.
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He said: “It was lucky I had my brother with me or who knows what might have happened.
“One of the men walked to the back of the store and grabbed about 17 items. I shouted, ‘Stop, where are you going?’
“He carried on walking so I grabbed the other one and said, ‘Your friend didn’t pay.’
“He tried to run away but my brother and I pinned him to the floor.
“He was punching us and biting my hand and threatening to kill us and it took all our strength to hold him there.
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“At some point the other one came back. I don’t know if he was on drugs or what, but he kicked me with so much power that he fractured a bone in my leg.
“I was crying in pain and had to use crutches for weeks afterwards. It took the police 45 minutes to arrive – we had to hold these two big men in their 30s for all that time.
“The police arrested them but I still don't know what is happening with the case. Three weeks later, I arrived at the shop at 5am to find the windows had been smashed in.
“The police told us it was three guys on bikes and they had hit three stores in the area the same night.
“After that we waited at the store for two nights for them to come back. I don’t want to say what I would have done if I had gotten my hands on them.
“Everyone knows who these thieves are, but the police don’t do anything to stop them.
“The robbers can do whatever they want – Leighton Buzzard has become completely lawless.”
Stole £20k on day of funeral
Tragically, Raja’s wife Nasreem died suddenly of cancer aged just 55 in May.
On the day of her funeral on May 28, thieves stole a £20,000 Range Rover belonging to his daughter that was parked outside the nearby Hunt Lodge hotel, which he also owns. Raja is convinced they were tipped off by the notice he put outside his shop that day.
Startling crime figures lay bare the anarchic crime wave blighting the nation’s high streets.
Police recorded 339,206 shoplifting incidents in the 12 months to March, yet the British Retail Consortium estimates the total number of retail thefts to be close to eight million.
Just 48,218 shoplifting cases recorded by the police, a derisory 14 per cent, resulted in a charge.
Underling the problems in Leighton Buzzard, our interview was temporarily halted when two known shoplifters entered Raja’s store, which lies on a terraced road five minutes from the train station.
Raja’s brother Zahid, 51, added: “Some families come here every day and let their children take things.
“We are not a big store like Tesco so we can’t afford to lose so much to shoplifters.
“We try to stop them because the police are never around. When they do arrive, they just want to give you a crime number for the insurance claim.
“We paid £500 to fix the windows ourselves as we didn’t want our insurance bill going up.
“I remember when the police came round to talk about the robbery, one of the officers kept looking behind the counter, like she was suspicious of something.
“I asked her, ‘What are you looking for?’ It felt like they were treating us as suspects rather than people that had risked their lives trying to stop these thieves.”
It felt like they were treating us as suspects rather than people that had risked their lives trying to stop these thieves
Thomas Cosby, 28, runs a family plumbing business that has been operating in Leighton Buzzard since the 1980s.
On 24 May he was woken up at 4am by the sound of a man in a high vis jacket stealing £3,000 worth of copper piping from the shop storage area beneath his home.
He filmed the man as he confronted him – footage he has shared with The Sun.
The robber was so brazen that he asked him to “come down and give me a hand”.
He perhaps had no fear of arrest as Leighton Buzzard now has just a handful of full-time police officers protecting the 43,000 population. The old police station on Hockliffe Road closed down years ago.
Thomas said: “I have the whole thing on tape and by lunchtime the next day, by asking around, I knew exactly who this man was and where he lived.
“He’s a serial robber. I immediately called the police, but it took them three weeks just to take a statement.
“They say they can’t do anything despite all the video footage.
“You used to see police everywhere here and this used to be a great place to live, but we don’t even have a police station now.
“Our police station is in Luton. It takes 20 minutes to reach here without traffic so the robbers know they have at least that long before there is a chance of them getting caught.
“Leighton Buzzard is lawless.”
One of his customers, who asked not to be named, added: “My wife works at Waitrose down the road and she is considering wearing a stab vest to work.
“Some of the thieves have had a proper go after she confronted them and she doesn’t feel safe.
“The managers always tell them not to get involved, but we were brought up not to nick. These shoplifters are going in and cleaning out whole aisles.”
Shop owner Pinkal Gosai, 42, is another resident despairing at the lack of police protection. His Station Express store inside the train station has been hit eight times in the last 18 months.
He said: “They are after cigarettes and will wrench the shutters with crowbars to get inside and smash the CCTV cameras.
“There is little I can do to stop them and even though I am paying £50 a month for a rapid response alarm, the police haven’t arrested anyone.
“It has gotten so bad I have to take all my stock home with me when I finish for the night.”
Hit by thieves
Rohit Patel has run ‘VNP News & Stores’ on North Street for the past 14 years and his is one of roughly a dozen businesses that have been targeted by thieves in recent months.
Rohit, 56, said: “We were hit three weeks ago. They booted in the door at 3.50am and stole a load of our stock.
“The police had DNA, fingerprints and CCTV footage but they ended up letting the perpetrators go due to lack of evidence.
“Everything seems to have gotten worse since the pandemic and I am starting to lose my faith in humanity.
“People were nice to each other before lockdown. Now it is all me, me, me and stealing has become such a big trend up and down the country.
"They are being encouraged to do it on the internet but people don't realise the knock on effect stealing has. It is ruinous for small businesses like mine."
'Continued efforts'
Sergeant Ryan Donaldson from Bedfordshire Police said: “We understand there are concerns relating to policing in Leighton Buzzard, and the force is continuing its efforts to reduce response times and address community concerns within the town.
“There is a dedicated community policing team based out of Leighton Buzzard Fire Station, which proactively tackles issues that matter most to the local community and address the core root of a problem, finding a long-term solution.
“The team, which consists of a chief inspector, an inspector, a sergeant, four officers and two PCSOs, also works closely with Central Bedfordshire Council and both short term and long term strategies into tackling root community issues are always explored to help establish a strong and robust approach to an ever changing policing environment.
“Bossard House, a new policing facility based in West Street, was opened earlier this year to help increase the police presence in the town.
“Patrol officers who respond to 999 calls are now able to work from Bossard House between jobs to complete administrative tasks, reducing the need for officers to drive back to either Dunstable or Luton.
“Though there are no plans for the site itself to be open to the public, the Police and Crime Commissioner funded a public service terminal that is based at Leighton Buzzard Library and will offer another way for the community to easily report crime, access support and communicate with officers on non-emergency matters.
“In terms of our officers responding to 999 calls, each call we receive is assessed on THRIVE – Threat, Harm, Risk, Investigative opportunity, Vulnerability and Engagement. This also helps to establish whether any measures can be put in to safeguard the victim from further harm or repeat victimisation, which includes referrals to partner and support agencies.
“Every report is fully examined to establish possible lines of enquiry and to prioritise crimes which pose the greatest threat to our communities. Resources are allocated accordingly and the officers who are most suitably skilled in the closest proximity to the incident are identified and deployed.
“We would encourage anyone in the Leighton Buzzard area to contact us if they have any concerns and we will do our best to resolve any issues.
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“The team can be contacted by calling 101, and any incidents or concerns can be reported via our online reporting tool at https://www.beds.police.uk/ro/report/ocr/af/how-to-report-a-crime/ or by webchat via our webchat.
“We would always urge people to call 999 in an emergency.”
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