Sledgehammer-wielding gang steals businessman’s £1,000,000 rare watch collection

A businessman was attacked with a sledgehammer by a masked gang who broke into his home and stole his £1 million rare watch collection.

Matthew Simpson, 57, and his wife – who did not want to be named – were at their gated home in Kimberley, Nottinghamshire, when the raid happened on December 4.

He described how two men clad all in black appeared in their kitchen after smashing through a patio door and screamed at them: ‘Where are the watches? Where is the safe? Where is your son?’

The pair made off with Mr Simpson’s watch collection which he had spent 20 years amassing and included luxury timepieces from Rolex, Audemars Piguet, Omega, Breitling, TAG Heuer, Hublot and Tissot.

Several of his wife’s high-end handbags were also taken, including pieces from Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Dior and Chanel – the most distinctive of which was a white Chanel ‘Boy’ bag available only in Milan.

Crimestoppers has put up a £7,500 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those behind the ‘vicious and frightening’ raid.

Mr Simpson said he believes ‘there is a link to us somewhere’ because they did not tell many people about the collections or flaunt pictures of them on social media.

‘We don’t know how close it is, but we know there is some information there,’ he told the Daily Mail.

‘We are hoping it is far away. We don’t want it to be family, close friends, colleagues – we want it to be as far away as possible.

‘But we have said to everyone around us that everybody is in the sieve and that sieve is going to be shaken and whatever comes through from it, if you have done nothing wrong, you have nothing to hide, speak to the police.’

Mr Simpson, who runs a heating business with his wife, said he was struck several times with the sledgehammer while bravely trying to fight the robbers off.

He said he took two of the thieves downstairs and opened the safe, while three more dragged his wife upstairs where most of the watches were kept.

After opening the safe, he said ‘it just kind of stopped then’, adding: ‘There was no more harassment, no more shouting, it just sort of stopped. They had got what they wanted.’

Dramatic CCTV of the raid shows it took the gang less than 30 seconds to get from the woodland where they entered the gated address into the home.

Mr Simpson said: ‘They came for the watches, pure and simple.’

Describing them as a ‘passion’, he told the Mail ‘they are not things you can just go out and buy’, having been invited to purchase limited-edition pieces after building up relationships with manufacturers over several years.

‘They are generational things and I took a bit of pride in the fact that when I am no longer here my son could be walking around with a watch and that would have been his dad’s watch,’ he said.

Each watch’s serial number is registered with The Watch Register so any legitimate sale should be flagged to the police.

Nottinghamshire Police said it is pursuing a number of lines of enquiry. 

Detectives traced a grey hatchback using false plates, seen on the A610 between 7.21pm and 7.49pm on the same evening. It’s believed the vehicle travelled into the West Midlands.

Lydia Patsalides, Regional Manager for the East Midlands area at Crimestoppers, said: ‘This was a shocking and violent attack on a family in their own home.

‘They were confronted by five masked men, armed with weapons and prepared to use serious force to get what they wanted, leaving lasting trauma and injury behind them.  

‘You can tell our charity what you know about who is involved without ever giving your name or speaking to the police. Your information could help stop further violence and bring justice to this family.’

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