Hawick car sales firm hit by thieves for second time in year and half

A car sales company boss was left to pick up the pieces on Christmas Eve after would-be thieves targeted his business.
Nick Mactaggart at Greendale Car Sales in Hawick.Nick Mactaggart at Greendale Car Sales in Hawick.
Nick Mactaggart at Greendale Car Sales in Hawick.

There was precious little Christmas cheer for Nick Mactaggart, owner of Greendale Car Sales, on Monday morning, December 24, thanks to intruders having broken into his garage on the Galalaw Business Park in Hawick the night before.

They damaged the used car sales firm’s alarm and stole a CCTV system, meaning there is no footage of the incident.

Happily for Nick, though, nothing else was taken.

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The raiders also tried unsuccessfully to enter another garage on the same business park, Scott and Son Automotive’s.

The attempted break-in at Greendale Car Sales took place just a few hours after the firm closed for the Christmas holidays.

Mr Mactaggart had to spend Christmas Eve clearing up the damage, and he said he was saddened by the burglary, the second at the business in a year and a half.

He said: “We are very sad to say that GCS was broken into on Sunday, December 23, at around 10.40pm.

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“Fortunately, they weren’t able to take anything as they have spent their time trying to break our alarm and have stolen our CCTV system, so we don’t have any images or video of the break-in.

“This means we don’t have much to go on, but if anyone happens to have any information at all, please do let us know.

“We are extremely grateful to the police, who were there within minutes of our alarm being triggered, but they had already fled.

“It was a very sad way of spending Christmas Eve, trying to rectify the damage that had been done.”

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A spokesperson for Scott and Son Automotive said: “What news to wake up to that GCS was broken into. Upon finding this information out, we checked our CCTV footage and found they had tried gaining access to our garage. Everyone please be vigilant.”

CCTV footage of the aborted raid has been viewed 4,500 times on the firm’s Facebook page.

It was in April last year that Greendale Car Sales, founded in 2010, was last broken into, having a diagnostic machine stolen by hoooded thieves.

That raid was linked at the time to six other break-ins and attempted break-ins over the Easter period in Selkirk, West Linton and Innerleithen.

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Dozens of messages of support for Mr Mactaggart have been posted on the company’s Facebook page.

Ian Simpson said: “It’s opportunist scum who target property and businesses at this time of year.

“There were a few similar incidents in Kelso last weekend, similar commercial properties, so chances are it’s the same individuals, probably from out of the area.”

Jacqueline Riddell added: “Dreadful scumbags. Do they think they have the right to take what they want from someone else? I hope they’re caught soon.”

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Anyone with information on the break-in can contact Police Scotland on 101 or, alternatively, anonymously call Crimestoppers on 0800 555111.

Potential witnesses can also call Greendale Car Sales on 01450 363581.