Thieves target Axion monitors

Thieves escaped with Axion monitors worth an estimated £65,000 in a night-time raid on the PC monitor manufacturer's haulage company.

Thieves escaped with Axion monitors worth an estimated £65,000 in a night-time raid on the PC monitor manufacturer's haulage company.

The 120 15in CRT screens, 200 17in monitors and 15 15.1in LCDs were stolen on 8 June.

Dennis Footitt, senior partner at Axion's Bedfordshire haulage firm News Transport, said the thieves had "fished" a set of keys for one of the firm's lorry tractors from the roof to avoid setting off the alarm. They had then hitched the lorry to the trailer containing the monitors and driven off.

Nothing else had been taken and the lorry tractor was found abandoned the next day, 70 miles away in the West Midlands. The empty trailer was found two days later, hitched to another stolen tractor, said Footitt.

He added that he suspected the monitors had been the thieves' target as the valuable lorry and trailer had been abandoned.

"Either the vehicle was followed from Axion or it was just some very lucky bloke," he said. "But the police have found a few lorries in that area in the last few months. I think we are dealing with a very professional set of thieves here."

He said it was the first time any goods had been stolen from News Transport in over 14 years. The company carries goods for Axion once or twice a week.

Bedfordshire police refused to comment on the case. But Hillary Gadd, a representative for Axion, said the company had notified the press because it wanted resellers to beware of anyone trying to peddle stolen monitors. She refused to comment further.

First published in Computer Reseller News