Thieves target home of top Tory Fox

The apartment block in central London that is home to shadow defence secretary Liam Fox
12 April 2012

Intruders used kitchen knives to cover their getaway from the home of shadow defence secretary Liam Fox, he has revealed.

The Tory frontbencher said he discovered several knives had been taken from drawers and left on a work surface during a break-in. The senior politician narrowly escaped a confrontation with the raiders who took his car and laptop from his central London flat.

Speaking outside his home near Tower Bridge, Dr Fox said the burglary was probably an "opportunistic" crime.

He said: "I feel like anyone else who has been the victim of an opportunistic burglary. It's not very nice to have someone in your house, particularly when you have been in it.

"It's even less nice when they have taken knives out of the kitchen drawer and leave them placed so that they can threaten you on their getaway.

"But I'm not the only person in this country who has been a victim of crime and I will have greater sympathy in the future with people who are. As Tony Blair once said, things can only get better."

He added: "It's not a very nice feeling but it's no different from anyone else who has been a victim of crime."

North Somerset MP Dr Fox, 49, dialled 999 when he discovered the break-in. His wife Jesme was not in the property because she is stuck in Hong Kong due to the travel chaos caused by the volcanic ash.

Police suspect the thief, or thieves, entered the property through patio doors that lead to a rear balcony.

Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Paul Stephenson said anyone who breaks into people's homes to steal should expect to be sent to prison if caught.

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