A 21-YEAR-OLD carpenter has had more than £8,000 worth of tools stolen that he had been saving for since he was 16.

Jasmine Tofts-Bennett set up a GoFundMe to try and recoup some of the money lost when her partner's van was broken into outside a house in Canford Heath, Poole.

She said: "We got woken up on the Sunday morning by someone knocking on the door and my mums neighbour said 'I think your truck's been broken into', I literally just saw the truck wide open at the back and I knew instantly. We've gone outside and my partner is just in absolute shock."

Read more: 

Based on footage from a neighbours ring doorbell, the incident took place between midnight and 2am in the morning. The incident itself was not caught on camera.

Jasmine said that her partner will lose income because of this which will also make it harder to replace the tools.

She said: "He's a carpenter and he's been doing that since he left school when he was an apprentice, he's not anymore and obviously tools are so expensive.

"From the age of 16 to 21, he's spent years and lots of money that he's saved up and worked hard for himself, especially on an apprentice wage, building up this collection of tools which he is very proud of.

"The more tools you have the better and more skilled work you can do and him not having those means that he can't work.

"He is still employed but when you're in the trade its not up to the employer to provide you with tools, they provide the materials and very basic tools.

"Luckily he's got friends that he can borrow a tool from on-site but if that friend is off ill he wouldn't be able to do anything, so it prevents him from doing his job.

"At 21 years old to see everything you've worked for over the years, your prized possessions just stolen in front of your eyed, I've literally never seen him so upset, he was absolutely distraught."

"It's just horrible really that people can’t earn an honest living for themselves and have to steal off hard working people."

The tools were the brands Milwaukee and Makita, the couple have been looking on Facebook market place and Gumtree in case they are being resold.

The incident was also reported to police.

A Dorset Police spokesperson said: "We received a report that a vehicle in Grays Close in Poole was broken into between 10pm on Saturday 5 February and 8.30am on Sunday 6 February 2022.

"It was reported that power tools and hand tools were stolen and damage was caused to door handles.

"Enquiries into the incident are ongoing, no arrests have been made at this time."

To donate to the GoFundMe visit: gofundme.com/f/help-21-year-old-carpenter-replace-stolen-tools?member=17203939