A CARPENTER was forced to cancel his holiday and stop working after his tools and bike - worth more than £14,000 - were stolen.

Jack Hare had his power tools and bike snatched during a late-night raid at a farm in Shapwick, near Wimborne.

The 28-year-old said it was ‘a kick in the teeth’ that he can't earn money and support himself.

“It’s saddening that there are people out there that will go out and steal people's livelihoods," Jack said. 

“They stole over £10,000 worth of tools, probably more than that, and then they’ve stolen a push bike which even at secondhand value is probably worth £4,500.

“It was a complete custom build bike, to build it new it would probably be double that.

“They kind of had a double whammy with me, with regards to my tools and then the bike.”

Bournemouth Echo: Jack's bike that was stolen from the unit near Wimborne.

Jack, from Wimborne, arrived at the unit and realised his chop saw wasn’t where he’d left it.

“I thought maybe one of the boys had borrowed it. The unit is shared with my little brother and one of my best friends,” he said.

“I thought, that’s weird.

“As I looked around, I thought ‘oh s***’, there’s a side door which was accessed from one of the farmer’s units and they’d come through. When I came outside, I realised that they’d actually broken into all the subsequent units.

“All my power tools were stolen, equating to a very large sum of money.”

Jack was due to go on a two-week bike riding holiday in France on the Monday after the raid, July 31, but he was forced to cancel after his bike was taken.

Police have said the farmers at the site also had tools and a quadbike stolen from the units.

Bournemouth Echo: Bike stolen from the unit near Wimborne.

Jack is now borrowing tools but has launched a fundraiser so he can replace the rest of his gear and get back to work. 

“I’ve been absolutely overwhelmed with the support that I’ve had, obviously from close friends and family, but other people, people that I’ve vaguely met once or twice,” he said.

“It restores your faith in humanity a little bit when you’re in times of crisis and people reach out and chuck you large or small amounts of money.”

A 40-year-old man from Blandford was arrested by Dorset Police on suspicion of burglary in relation to the crime and has been released under investigation.

Police enquiries are ongoing, and it released images of Jack and his friend’s bikes, a Specialized Stuntjumper and a Commencal Meta, that were taken in the raid.

The county force are appealing for anyone who witnessed ‘suspicious activity or vehicle movements’ in the area or sees the bikes or power tools on sale locally or online to come forward.

Anyone with information should contact Dorset Police at dorset.police.uk or by calling 101, quoting occurrence number 55230118778. Alternatively, independent charity Crimestoppers can be contacted anonymously online at Crimestoppers-uk.org or by calling Freephone 0800 555 111.

To help Jack, search for 'Get Jack back to work' on GoFundMe.