Jeweller given police warning for banning gipsies after string of raids on his shop

A respected jeweller has been given a police warning for 'racially offensive' conduct after banning gipsies from his shop in the wake of a series of raids by an Eastern European crime gang.

Michael Plant, 62, repeatedly called in officers after the foreign thieves - believed to be Romanian travellers - stole pieces from his jewellery shop in Altrincham, Cheshire.

Mr Plant reacted to the string of thefts with a sign in his shop window reading: 'Sorry, we do not serve Eastern Europeans or Gypsies.'

Shortly after posting the sign, he was served with a warning from a senior police officer demanding he take it down, or face prosecution for possible race hate charges.

Despite inquiries police have been unable to trace the thieves.

Mr Plant has run the M&M Plant shop with his Austrian wife Monika, 62, for the past 22 years.

Today, he said: 'I'm not racist, but the fact is I have been targeted repeatedly by Eastern European criminals and I should have a right to say which people come into my shop and not face allegations of racial discrimination.

'I should be able to choose who I serve. That's not just Eastern Europeans - if someone comes in drunk they will not be served either.

'All I want is some common sense approach to what we have. The police are reactive rather than proactive to crime, they wait for it to happen before they solve it rather than the other way round.

'I think these Romanians and Eastern European criminals are letting their fellow countrymen down. Obviously I don't think all of them are bad, but how can I distinguish who is good and who is bad?

'I've got a foreign wife and we have foreign friends. But some people coming in to this country illegally seem to have more rights than me.'

The series of thefts at Mr Plant's store started 18 months ago, with the most recent last Saturday when a man's gold wedding ring was stolen.

'They always say they're Spanish, but they aren't. I speak more Spanish than them,' he added.

'They use distraction techniques like a child running around, and they get away with your stock. One morning I lost nine bracelets, worth well into four figures.

'I think they must pass our name around because about every five to six weeks I get another group of people, two or three to four, sometimes with or without children. Their English is very poor. They always have gold teeth.

'The men always dress very flamboyant with suits, they look as if they are trying to fit in with pointy shoes on, but unfortunately they go over the top and fail.

'They come in and ask for something and we usually haven't got it. Last Saturday we got a visit from another 'disadvantaged' pair from a 'disadvantaged' group and the result was that we lost some jewellery to them.

'They're quicker than Paul Daniels. It's a couple of hundred pounds and that's under my insurance excess.'

Officers were alerted to Mr Plant's sign, posted on Monday morning, after a tip-off. He then got a warning from senior officers shortly afterwards offering him 'words of advice' about the message.

He said: 'This sign was written in anger after the robbery. I feared we would get more in that afternoon. I just put it straight up on the door. One Saturday we got some in in the morning and some in the afternoon.

'I emailed the local Inspector to say what I had put up on the sign and I was told to take it down immediately.

'I put up another sign which actually said Romanian and East European Gypsies. It's actually saying nothing, but the police are now taking offence to the word "gypsies".

'I've reported incidents to the police in the past. I've had several robberies over the years and the capture of criminals is very low.

'I'm sick and tired of a country where if I put a sign on the door, I'm told I'm in flagrant disregard of the discrimination act, which would result in me going to high court being given a fine and a slap on the wrist and end up with a criminal record.

'I bet if these people are caught for stealing, they probably wouldn't even go into a magistrates court. They would just get a fixed penalty fine and that would be paid by one of the human rights organisations. The tax-payer pays for it all.

'I've spoken to various people, including foreign friends of mine, and they seem to agree that the whole country is belly-up.'

Police said the Mr Plant had fallen foul of the Race Relations Act which recognises gypsies and travellers as ethnic groups.

A spokesman for Greater Manchester Police said: 'Police received a report that a shop was displaying a sign which contained writing that was deemed to be offensive.

'Officers have spoken with the owner of the shop. He has been advised that the notice is offensive and he has since removed it. We take all complaints of this nature extremely seriously.'

From: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1200351/Jeweller-warned-racially-offensive-sign-banning-Eastern-Europeans-shop---string-raids-Romanians.html#ixzz0LYAPKSQB