Break-in a huge blow for Hawick Royal Albert football club

New security cameras at a Hawick football ground have proven their worth, just over 24 hours after being installed.
Jim Borthwick of Hawick Royal Albert FC at the broken optics from the burglary early hours Saturday.Jim Borthwick of Hawick Royal Albert FC at the broken optics from the burglary early hours Saturday.
Jim Borthwick of Hawick Royal Albert FC at the broken optics from the burglary early hours Saturday.

CCTV at Hawick Royal Albert’s club rooms at Mansfield Park is being credited for the positive lines of enquiries police are now following into a break in there at the weekend.

Thieves broke into the club room bar around 5am on Saturday morning, breaking a door and making off with alcohol with a resale value of almost £400.

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And it’s a break-in which club steward Jim Borthwick says has devastated the volunteer-run club.

“Almost our entire team is made up of Hawick boys just now,” he said. “It’s been well publicised that we are trying to get the club back up and running and for the good of the community too.

“It’s definitely a big blow and the players are not very happy.”

Previous break-ins, where thieves made off with alcohol and bandit machine cash, prompted the Royal Albert committee to install a security camera system as a deterrent.

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“The CCTV was only just put in the day before and the committee hadn’t even had time to put up the warning signs yet,” Jim added. “I got a phone call on Saturday morning and I knew straight away what they were going to say.

“It’s really disappointing.”

Jim, also club steward at the town’s Burns’ Club, says the thieves made off with four 1.5litre bottles of spirits.

And with bar profits being ploughed back into the club, that alcohol was worth around £80 to £100 per bottle.

He added: “I think this is about the fourth break-in in as many years and we’ve never had any luck catching the culprits before now.

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“Without a doubt the CCTV has definitely helped the police this time.”

A spokeswoman said: “Police in Hawick are investigating after a break in and theft at the Hawick Royal Albert Football Club at Mansfield Road.

“A quantity of alcohol was stolen from within.

“The incident occurred around 5am on Saturday, August 3, and officers are following a positive line of enquiry.”