Thieves get away with jewellery piled in car

Thieves piled jewellery into a car after crashing through a shopping centre entrance and driving straight through the mall, police in the North said today.

At least £20,000 (€29,300) worth of valuables was seized from display cases during the raid near north Belfast.

Four masked men were in the red Ford Escort that rammed the main doors of the Abbey Centre just before midnight on Tuesday.

They smashed past the foyer and drove along the deserted precinct before stopping outside Ernest Jones jewellers.

Three of the burglars got out, armed with sledge hammers, and shattered two display windows.

As the driver reversed inside the mall they lifted bundles of jewellery before getting back into the car.

Police later found the vehicle on fire nearby at Bawnmore Grove in the Newtownabbey district.

No arrests have been made yet.