Dad arrived at work and 'instantly knew something' was wrong

A dad who has worked all his life had 'everything' taken from him within a matter of minutes. Kevin Lowe, 47, from Huyton, Merseyside, arrived at work and and 'instantly' knew something was wrong.

Kevin has spent the last 32 years, since leaving school at 15, working towards owning his own business. On September 17, Kevin turned up to the job he had been working on with his business partner, Danny Gornall, 40, and son, who was working for him.

However, when they arrived at the job, on Menlove Avenue, Allerton, that morning, Kevin instantly knew something was 'wrong'.

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He told the ECHO: "We had been working on this job in Allerton and had everything secured as we do every job. We have locks for all the accesses to the site where the tools are kept overnight. We had been working there for three weeks and it had been fine until we turned up last week and saw that the fencing had been ripped apart. I instantly knew something happened.

"My son ran in and my partner went up the scaffold. I heard my son screaming 'everything has gone.' I felt sick. We lost about £15,000 worth of tools, £10,000 of them are mine. I felt physically sick as soon as I saw the fencing ripped open."

Kevin said they weren't able to work for a few days after the incident while they replaced the basic tools they needed for the job, meaning they also lost out on day's wage. He said: "We had to replace the basics to carry on working. We haven't got £15,000 to replace the tools we've lost, we work to live."

"I have my two sons working for me as well, they just walk past me hugging me all the time asking if I'm OK, they can see I have been really affected by it. I have a family to provide for."

He added: "They must have got access [to the site] through the roof. They've taken their time going through the tools and taking them. They have taken everything, even all the batteries and unplugged all the charges. This is my livelihood, it was heart breaking. It's more sickening than anything else."

A spokesperson for Merseyside Police said: "Detectives are appealing for information following a house burglary on Tuesday 17 September in Allerton. It was reported that a house on Menlove Avenue was broken into overnight and work tools were stolen from the property. No injuries were reported."

"Enquiries are being caried and anyone with any information or footage of the incident is asked to contact police. Anyone who witnessed the incident or with any information can contact us by DM via our social media desk on Twitter @MerPolCC or Facebook 'Merseyside Police Contact Centre' with reference 24000799763. You can also contact the independent charity Crime stoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111."