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Not the most subtle of robberies you'll read about today

From police report to media: “A Landrover was driven into a shop and then set on fire.”

THIEVING MASTERMINDS OFTEN go about their business quietly, hoping their crime will go unnoticed while they steal away.

Well, not so in Manchester.

Police from the city sent out a media release today, with the subject line:

“A Landrover was driven into a shop and then set on fire.”

And there are pictures.

PastedImage-32285

The vehicle was driven into the Brooklands Co-op shop in the early hours of this morning. When police and emergency services arrived just after 1am, they found the green Landrover Discovery had been deliberately reversed into the shop front.

Detectives believe the perpetrators stole the vehicle and deliberately used it to “smash the shutters” before burgling the shop. They they set it on fire and fled the scene.

Firefighters extinguished the blaze but it had already caused significant damage.

“Using a vehicle to cause significant damage to the shop, and then setting it alight is very serious and it is just fortunate that no-one was outside the shop at the time, as the consequences could have been severe,” said Inspector John Harris.

Despite the commotion, police have not caught the offenders and have issued an appeal for information.

Read: Small plane crashes at Kansas airport during take off

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9 Comments
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    Mute Alan Quinn
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    Sep 28th 2012, 7:33 AM

    I can’t remember the last time I was served by an Irish person in any Insomnia coffee shop.

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    Mute tomnewnewman.org
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    Sep 28th 2012, 7:54 AM

    FAS should send people to eastern Europe to acquire the skill of making tea and coffee instead of leaving them long term unemployed

    61
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    Mute Conor Buckley
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    Sep 28th 2012, 7:56 AM

    I’m amazed you were able to check their passports so swiftly (@Conor_concludes)

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    Mute The Viscount
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    Sep 28th 2012, 8:08 AM

    Its a lot easier to take business risks when you have the state machina behind you. Id have to put my home at risk and my familys future on the line to start up a business, and if it failed, because i had beed self employed, i wouldnt get the dole.

    61
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    Mute Justin Gillespie
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    Sep 28th 2012, 8:39 AM

    The lack of Irish people in Insomnia may well be a reflection on attitudes in Ireland as anything else.

    52
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    Mute Rónán O'Suilleabháin
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    Sep 28th 2012, 9:12 AM

    Alan I think that’s extremely unfair. Serving coffee and tea is only slightly above or on the minimum wage, and you hire the most competent and eager people that are willing to do the job.

    The margin is very tight on a coffee shop. From a plain raw materials point of view, sure it’s beans and hot water or a tea bag and hot water, but the overheads are horrendous. I know someone who got into the game, and quickly got out of it. Basically he needed to sell 200 cups of coffee per day to cover the rent, 100 for the rates, and 200 to pay the staff. Any more would have to go towards advertising, maintenance etc. 500 cups a day? Sure some of that is mitigated by the fella that has a sandwich, but that’s still a lot of sales to make, and the bulk of that needs to happen in the morning and the afternoon.

    This is the service industry, and the economy is never going to pay the average industrial wage to someone serving coffee or pints. In my first job I pulled pints for £3.50/hour, and in college I pulled them for £4.50/hour. These are jobs for people in transition like students and unskilled immigrants, (or sadly, in many cases, skilled without recognition).

    Pay aside, if I was a business owner and I had to make a choice between an Irish student of 22 and an immigrant of 25 working 2 jobs, I’d certainly factor in to my decision who was likely to show up at 8am on Saturday for work, and what condition they might be in.

    50
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    Mute Raymond Connolly
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    Sep 28th 2012, 7:43 AM

    People like bobby are an inspiration for Irish people to help themselves out of recession.

    65
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    Mute Ed
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    Sep 28th 2012, 8:35 AM

    Good luck to bobby , it’s a lot easier to kick off in business when you inherit a sizeable network and fortune, but for the rest of us it’s a lot tougher, a lot.

    57
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    Mute Justin Gillespie
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    Sep 28th 2012, 8:42 AM

    I see the red thumbs are in evidence here. Probably the words “help themselves” they don’t like.

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    Mute Ryan Allen
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    Sep 28th 2012, 10:33 AM

    @ Justin: It seems they want the government to do everything for them.

    I can’t believe the miserable comments on this article. It’s a waste of time trying to promote any positive initiative on this site I fear.

    19
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    Mute Ed
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    Sep 28th 2012, 10:41 AM

    Heh Ryan why the long face , tell you what , let’s all hold hands and skip off in to the sun, what laughs we’ll have

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    Mute Justin Gillespie
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    Sep 28th 2012, 11:57 AM

    Rather that than be a cynical miserable old git.

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    Mute Ed
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    Sep 30th 2012, 7:41 PM

    suppose it takes one to know one

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    Mute Mark Vieregge
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    Sep 28th 2012, 7:44 AM

    Irish grown coffee?

    58
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    Mute Mad Taoiseach
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    Sep 28th 2012, 7:51 AM

    Irish grown Tea, but hey, Irish orange juice is as good as it gets.

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    Mute Damian O'keeffe
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    Sep 28th 2012, 7:51 AM

    Yeah you just leave the cups under the bushes and the rain washes the coffee into them…….

    26
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    Mute John Phelan
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    Sep 28th 2012, 10:01 AM

    I co-own an Irish Coffee Roasting company! Bobby buys his coffee from Scotland. ‘Nuff said!

    49
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    Mute Ed
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    Sep 28th 2012, 10:12 AM

    As the saying goes ,talk is cheap.Bobby has invented a persona for himself that fits neatly in his newly discovered media profile, he’s away with the fairies if you ask me. Big business is self serving no matter how they like to dress it up, spare us your patronising chatter.

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    Mute Justin Gillespie
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    Sep 28th 2012, 10:41 AM

    Have you ever asked him or yourself why that is John?

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    Mute John Phelan
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    Sep 28th 2012, 10:49 AM

    Yes I have actually! I have my own views on the answers though which in the interests of my own business I’ll keep to myself, but needless to say though – as a high level gourmet roasting company who roasts & blends only grade 1 arabica beans that we source direct from growers (not futures or comm. market) we can do both better quality (IMHO) and at a potentially better price while still employing Irish roastery, technical service, office & sales staff! Oh and as Bobby says above – “feeding my kids & paying my bills…” at home in Ireland too!

    21
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    Mute John Phelan
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    Sep 28th 2012, 10:56 AM

    By the way – I must add for the record – Bobby Kerr runs a great business that employs thousands of people in Ireland, sells a, generally, great product at fair prices and seems to me to be a good guy! I’ve no axe to grind or have no sour grapes what so ever! I do though think he puts it out there (radio & dragons etc.) that his support of Irish business is a little more than it is! There are probably 5 Irish roasters now that he could strike a deal with if he was really really committed to this cause!

    Best of luck to him though… ;)

    24
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    Mute Justin Gillespie
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    Sep 28th 2012, 12:02 PM

    John
    If I was you I would doorstep him & knock on his door till you get in there.
    People like you are needed here.
    As Tom Robinson said many years ago
    “Don’t Take No For An Answer”

    5
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    Mute John Phelan
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    Sep 28th 2012, 12:20 PM

    Thanks Justin!

    In the most professional of manners, I’ve accosted poor Bobby a couple of times over the years – I’ve even considered going into the Den and offering him 2% of our business for a €5er or something to guarantee landing his insomnia account! Ha ha! (I jest!)

    I think he’s just very happy with his current supplier arrangement!

    As the author of this piece himself, he might even do the right thing to support his own campaign and ask me for some samples & a quote!!! ;) LoL!!!

    9
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    Mute M
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    Sep 28th 2012, 8:56 AM

    I find him annoying

    33
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    Mute Justin Gillespie
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    Sep 28th 2012, 8:57 AM

    He speaks very highly of you

    29
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    Mute Jack Eagle
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    Sep 28th 2012, 9:35 AM

    Buying Irish I firmly believe in, but very often – especially in recent times – I’m on a tight budget, which like most people these days need to stretch that budget as far as possible. Meaning the cheaper alternative will succeed each time, therefore buying irish tends to go out the window as the Irish product tends to be more expensive. Vicious circle but this is survival

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    Mute Norman Hunter
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    Sep 28th 2012, 9:55 AM

    Just wondering Bobby did you pass on the vat cut to your customers,you know where the government raided my pension fund and that of others to help the service industry.

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    Mute Arbitrasure
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    Sep 28th 2012, 9:21 AM

    Is it true Bobby is considering opening a new restaurant chain called Flatulence?
    Inspired by the branding success of Insomnia.

    14
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    Mute Ciarán Ferrie
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    Sep 28th 2012, 11:28 AM

    Surely that would be a Diageo franchise :-)

    9
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    Mute Frank Comments
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    Sep 28th 2012, 10:06 AM

    Irish dragons den does my nut in!!

    12
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    Mute Damocles
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    Sep 28th 2012, 10:37 AM

    I’ve never understood why someone will pay more for something just because it’s Irish.

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    Mute Justin Gillespie
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    Sep 28th 2012, 10:44 AM

    Because by buying Irish we create jobs, demand, more jobs, more demand…
    Nobody is suggesting that we should pay over the odds for crap, Bobby makes this point himself, but all other things being more or less even then buying Irish makes sense.

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    Mute Damocles
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    Sep 28th 2012, 10:56 AM

    So if you were offered two products and one was of very slightly inferior quality but Irish but 10 cents a unit more then you’d buy the Irish one?

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    Mute Ed
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    Sep 28th 2012, 10:59 AM

    Damocles I don’t think anyone is suggesting we should pay more for Irish stuff

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    Mute John Phelan
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    Sep 28th 2012, 11:04 AM

    I don’t think that’s what anyone is saying but if quality & price was on par I’d like to think anyone would support their own home market – where ever that may be!

    The fact is – (and particularly) in the food & drink industry we can very regularly do things better and more competitively here at home for our own local market!

    6
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    Mute Norman Hunter
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    Sep 28th 2012, 11:37 AM

    If an Irish product is the same quality and price as its imported counterpart then i will go Irish.However if the Irish product is dearer than its imported counterpart but of same quality,sorry i have limited funds the cheaper product gets my custom.

    12
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    Mute John Phelan
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    Sep 28th 2012, 11:41 AM

    No issue there Norman! ;)

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    Mute Damocles
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    Sep 28th 2012, 12:33 PM

    I reckon that for 10 cents you’d go Irish, Norman.

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    Mute censored
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    Sep 28th 2012, 5:57 PM

    Buying Irish just because it is Irish destroys the competitiveness of Irish products and prevents them from being successful on the open market. Basic economics + human nature. If you want to be patriotic you should base your decision on best value, not national origin.

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    Mute censored
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    Sep 28th 2012, 5:59 PM

    btw this is implied. Because all else being equal why wouldn’t you buy Irish?

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    Mute Resel
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    Sep 28th 2012, 9:55 AM

    No money to pay wages and suppliers at the back door wanting a cheque. Sure that is me every week and I don’t consider myself nearly bust.

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    Mute Jack Jack
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    Sep 28th 2012, 9:49 AM

    Companies who purchase Irish goods do so because they have negotiated the best possible deal. In terms of hiring a service company, however, many Irish businesses prefer to engage large international companies as they like being associated with a brand name.

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    Mute Dave Grant
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    Sep 28th 2012, 2:38 PM

    I have a real problem with this Bobby chap. If your dad gives you millions in seed capital your rich and lucky and that’s fine but your not an entrepreneur.

    6
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    Mute John Phelan
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    Sep 28th 2012, 3:33 PM

    I think that’s probably factually incorrect and very very unfair!

    He’s worked bloody hard to build his brand & his other business Interests up. He takes reasonably calculated risks (for the right reasons) in the Den!

    I’m not sure the use of the word entrepreneur could be better applied to any other individual I know of!

    What have you done? :-/

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    Mute Ed
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    Sep 30th 2012, 7:48 PM

    but it is factually correct! bobby inherited a fortune from a hotel business his late father built. That said he may have worked hard and all that, but he has a massive head start on the track while everyone else has to start at the beginning.So a lecture from Bobby is an empty vessel.

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    Mute McNamees On TheGreen
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    Sep 28th 2012, 9:47 PM

    Revolutionary observations from the mick Wallace of the coffee world !

    4
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    Mute Dave Grant
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    Oct 2nd 2012, 12:20 AM

    Gift me 28 Million and i’ll think about it Bobby

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    Mute Selco Hygiene
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    Jul 2nd 2013, 7:42 AM

    Very true words. We need to work hand in hand.

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    Mute Wayne Clarke
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    Oct 2nd 2012, 8:00 PM

    Buy Irish my arse, what if the Americans only bought their own stuff or the Brits only bought their own stuff we would be screwed. We need a global market in order to grow.

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