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The founder of social media site Bebo and his family returned from their daughter’s birthday dinner to find their home had been ransacked by thieves.
About £500,000 worth of items including diamond jewellery and Rolex watches were taken in the raid on Paul Birch’s home, a mansion in a gated community in Surrey.
Bebo founder Paul and his wife Juliana had returned from their 17-year-old daughter’s birthday celebration on December 11 to find thieves had broken in.
After checking CCTV they found at least one of the thieves used a crowbar to break in before running from room, stuffing huge bags full of luxury items including Hermes handbags.
They left mountains of ripped boxes and piles of clothes scattered around the house in their wake, causing a huge mess for the family.
Juliana reckons about 200 items were stolen as she compiled a detailed list of their missing property for police.
Three people broke into the house (Picture: Birch family)
They made off with around 200 items (Picture: Birch family)
The house was totally ransacked (Picture: Birch family)
The family are angry that police have closed the case (Picture: Birch family)
They include a pink and silver Rolex, seven Chanel handbags, seven Dior handbags, three silver Tiffany necklaces and several pairs of Christian Louboutin heels.
Even worse, keepsakes like the couple’s engraved wedding bands and 12 Mexican gold coins they received for their wedding were also stolen.
But just five weeks on from the burglary, Juliana is furious at Surrey Police who have decided to close the case.
She said the officer in charge paused the investigation after just two weeks to take his Christmas break, and when they asked for an update last week they were told the case had been closed ‘because there was not enough evidence’.
Juliana told MailOnline: ‘For weeks I was terrified. I was shaking all the time, crying. I was so scared to the point I started walking around my own house with a knife just in case.
‘When they finally sent a policewoman more than 12 hours after we called, [she] didn’t even bother to review the CCTV footage.
‘Then we were told the officer in charge was going on holiday and would contact us in the new year. He never did. So my daughter called the police three or four days ago and found out the case had been closed.
‘It was very upsetting. The officer in charge kept asking for proof I really did own the items, and from the tone of his voice it was like he didn’t believe me.
‘That is why these awful crooks get away with so many things, because it’s like the police are more interested in protecting the criminals than us, the targets.’
A Surrey Police spokesman said the investigation was shelved because there were ‘no further positive lines of inquiry’.
They added: ‘Officers attended the scene to take DNA samples but there were no matches.
‘They were unable to run the CCTV images through the national database due to them not being clear.’
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