NI businesses face crime struggle

By Niall Glynn
BBC News

Victim Harry Holland owned a greengrocer's shop

Northern Ireland has the highest level of crime against businesses in the UK, the Federation of Small Businesses has said.

The FSB's Glyn Roberts was speaking after west Belfast greengrocer Harry Holland died in hospital after being stabbed on Tuesday night.

Mr Roberts said the number and severity of attacks was putting added pressures on small business owners.

"We have heard some pretty nasty horror stories over recent years," he said.

"There is this idea that somehow business crimes are victimless, but this murder has shown they are far from victimless crimes."

Mr Roberts said that two out of three small businesses in NI had reported being the victim of some sort of crime in the last year.

He said this did not just affect the economy but also the community as a whole.

"We have been lobbying the NIO to try and set these type of crimes as a greater priority for the PSNI," he said.

"We've been making progress on this, but it's also an issue for the community as a whole."

My family, my staff, myself have looked down the barrel of a gun on two occasions, my wife has had a knife put to her throat, I've been punched in the face Supermarket owner Alan Chambers

Mr Roberts said that small business owners were already facing pressures such as high insurance and energy costs. He called on the government to provide tax breaks for those looking to increase their security.

One local businessman, Alan Chambers, who runs a supermarket and is also an independent member of North Down Council, said there had been five attempted robberies at his business in the last three years.

"My family, my staff, myself have looked down the barrel of a gun on two occasions, my wife has had a knife put to her throat, I've been punched in the face," Mr Chambers said.

"In the last attack my wife and myself were assaulted with a hammer and a hatchet."

He said it was a difficult time to be a retailer.

"None of us are making any fortunes. When these people come in to deprive you of your stock there is an instinctive reaction (to try to repel them)," he said.

Mr Chambers said the night he and his wife were confronted by the attackers with the hammer and the hatchet they made the decision not to show any resistance.

Despite this "the person with the hatchet continued to strike me with the hatchet right throughout the duration of the robbery" he said.

"I had to fight back, it was life and death as far as I was concerned that night."

A PSNI statement said tackling business crime was a key item on the police's agenda.

"These include a wide range of area specific crime prevention programmes, specialist financial investigators targeting fraud and money laundering, an extortion unit with an extortion helpline, and a cash-in-transit control room, run in partnership with industry, to monitor and protect all cash deliveries," it said.