Moment moped raiders fail to break into high-end London boutique after owner spent £75k transforming it into 'Fort Knox'

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Moped bandits besiege a designer boutique — but are foiled by the owner’s “Fort Knox” security system.

Dominic Durante spent more than £75,000 on security measures at his Designer Exchange stores in Chelsea and Knightsbridge after thieves targeted them more than a dozen times.

On Monday the new £30,000 shutters at his King’s Road store paid off.

The gang first tried to break in with an angle grinder, then a cinder block and finally drove a moped into the front door — but everything failed.

The raiders tried to ram the moped into the front door

CCTV footage captured the failed robbery, including when a smoke alarm fired a cloud of smoke into their faces.

Bewildered, the gang almost left their angle grinder behind as they departed from the scene.

The gang first tried to break in with an angle grinder, then a cinder block

Mr Durante, who is also a director of the CeX electronics chain and has four other Designer Exchange stores in the UK, said: “It’s like Fort Knox and it has got to be.

"That’s what a retailer who wants to do anything luxury has to do these days to get to sleep at night.”

The moped raiders fled from the scene when the break-in attempt failed

He delighted in foiling the thieves, saying: “They almost can’t be bothered to pick up their tools after. You can see them think ‘Shall I just leave it? I’m knackered!’”

He added: “I used to feel so sick when the break-ins happened and personally violated as this business is my baby.”

Dominic Durante
NIGEL HOWARD

Mr Durante has spent £35,000 on reinforced steel beams across the front of his Knightsbridge store to prevent ram-raiders and a further £10,000 on a 12-lock steel doorway.

Both stores, selling handbags and other accessories by designers such as Christian Louboutin, Yves Saint Laurent and Givenchy, have had security smoke systems installed.

The boutique in Knightsbridge 

Previous raids include one on the Chelsea boutique last Christmas Eve, when a van reversed through the glass front and thieves in motorbike helmets grabbed £75,000 worth of designer handbags.

In 2014, men ran into the Knightsbridge store and snatched more than 20 Chanel and Hermès Birkin and Kelly bags, some worth £17,000.

The Met Police said of the latest attempt: “There have been no arrests. The investigation continues.”

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