Crimestoppers is offering up to £7,500 for information that they exclusively receive that leads to the arrest and conviction of those responsible for a terrifying house burglary in Kimberley.
A number of high-value watches and designer handbags were stolen after five masked men wearing dark clothing smashed their way into the property, off Knowle Road, shortly before 7.40pm on Thursday 4 December 2025.
Some of the men were armed, with one carrying a sledgehammer and another carrying a pickaxe.
A male victim was viciously assaulted with the sledgehammer when he attempted to confront the intruders, struck to his back and knee.
After assaulting him and pinning him to a sofa, the attackers demanded to know the location of valuables and access to a safe.
Threatened with further violence, the victim was forced to get the safe keys and opened the safe. The offenders then filled a sack with a large quantity of luxury watches from the safe.
As this was happening, his wife was physically dragged upstairs by others from the offending group, where she was forced to show them where the rest of the watches were stored.
The offenders also took many of her luxury designer handbags along with a mobile phone, and a purse containing bank cards.
Nottinghamshire Police is continuing to carry out extensive lines of inquiry to locate those responsible for the burglary – which has resulted in a loss of nearly £1 million to the victims in terms of the stolen valuables and cost of repair work.
Crimestoppers, a charity which is independent of the police, is supporting this investigation by offering a reward of up to £7,500 for information that they exclusively receive that leads to the arrest and conviction of those responsible.
The reward is available for three months. They are appealing to the public to contact them anonymously if they have any information.
Lydia Patsalides, Regional Manager for the East Midlands area at Crimestoppers, said: “This was a shocking and violent attack on a family in their own home.
“They were confronted by five masked men, armed with weapons and prepared to use serious force to get what they wanted, leaving lasting trauma and injury behind them.
“You can tell our charity what you know about who is involved without ever giving your name or speaking to the police. Your information could help stop further violence and bring justice to this family.”
Detective Constable James Gill, of Nottinghamshire Police, said: “We are extremely grateful that the charity Crimestoppers is offering a reward of up to £7,500 for anyone with information which leads to the arrest and conviction of those responsible for this violent house burglary.
“This was a vicious and frightening incident and it’s very fortunate the victims did not sustain even more serious injuries.
“We remain determined to catch those responsible and we’re really grateful to Crimestoppers for putting up this reward and for their ongoing assistance – not just for this case but for all our investigations.
“Following the burglary, the offenders were seen on CCTV to enter woodland to the north of the property.
“Through automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) camera enquiries, a grey hatchback vehicle using false plates was identified on the nearby A610, driving in the Nottingham area between 7:21pm and 7:49pm on Thursday 4 December.
“We believe that, post-offence, the vehicle travelled out of Nottinghamshire and then went through Derbyshire, Leicestershire, and Warwickshire, before entering the West Midlands region.”
Among the luxury watches stolen were:
- Audemars Piguet Royal Oak QP perpetual calendar. This watch was only released in February 2025 and is produced in very limited quantities. This has the recognisable ‘Royal Oak’ octagonal bezel with exposed screws, and a smoky-blue “Grande Tapisserie” dial (like a very fine checkerboard pattern, with etched, raised squares) that displays the day, date, month, leap year and moon phase. The name of Audemars Piguet is displayed at the 6 o’clock mark, within the moon phase indicator
- Rolex “Platona” Daytona Cosmograph, reference 126506. This watch is crafted entirely from platinum, giving it a more silvery sheen than polished steel or white gold. The watch has a rich, ice-blue lacquered dial that is unique to platinum Rolex models. The face has three sub-dials at the 3, 6 and 9, and this particular model has hour markers around the dial which made up of diamond baguettes. There are screw-down pushers and crown
- Omega Speedmaster “Snoopy” 50th anniversary. This watch is a special edition celebrating the Apollo 13 mission and NASA’s ‘Silver Snoopy’ Award. It was released in 2020, in very small batches, making it a highly limited release. It’s notable for having a white dial with three blue sub-dials. At the 9 o’clock sub-dial, the cartoon dog Snoopy can be seen in a spacesuit and, on the caseback, the movement causes another Snoopy to rotate around the watch in a ‘command module’, seeming to orbit around Earth against a starry backdrop
- A pair matching gents and ladies Audemars Piguet Royal Oak ‘London’ edition. These are very limited editions (60 gents’ watches worldwide and 40 ladies’), made in pink/rose gold and with an octagonal bezel and a very distinctive black ‘pixel’ dial, which would appear as a light-catching, pixellated effect. There is a date window at the 3 o’clock position.
A large number of designer handbags were also taken, including pieces from Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Chanel, Jimmy Choo, and Dior.
The most distinctive of these pieces is a white Chanel “Boy” handbag, in a style available only from Milan. This specific bag is made of quilted white leather and is unique due to it having a rigid top handle with Chanel written across it. It is not a variant which can be bought from the UK.
Information passed directly to police will not qualify for a reward.
Only information passed directly to Crimestoppers, which is completely independent and guarantees total anonymity, will qualify.
Information can be passed online at Independent UK charity taking crime information anonymously | Crimestoppers or by calling 0800 555 111 at any time.
