Police warning after ‘Gumtree’ seller assaulted in his home

THAMES Valley Police is appealing for information following a robbery in which the victim had chilli thrown in his eyes.

At 7pm on Monday (23/3) two men arrived at the victim’s home in Towersey Drive, Thame,  to view a silver Apple Macbook that the victim, a 40-year-old man, was selling on Gumtree. While one of the men was viewing the laptop, the other man threw liquid into the face of the victim which caused a burning sensation to the victims eyes. He was also hit around the head during the incident. While the victim was distracted, the two men grabbed the Macbook and ran out of the house.

The victim received treatment at the Stoke Mandeville Hospital. The liquid was later identified as a fizzy soft drink mixed with chilli powder.

The two offenders were white, in their twenties and wore jeans and bomber jackets.

DS Peter Scott, of Didcot Local CID, said: “We’d like to reassure the public that incidents such as these are very rare, and there have been no similar reported incidents.

“The victim was selling his belongings through an online site, and we’d encourage people who are interested in doing this to meet up with your potential buyer in a public place where lots of people will be around, tell people where and when you are meeting the buyer, and to leave if you feel uncomfortable at any time.

“Get Safe Online and Action Fraud both provide really good advice for safe online selling and buying on their websites – www.getsafeonline.org and www.actionfraud.police.uk”

If you have any information please contact the Thames Valley Police Enquiry Centre on 101.

If you don’t want to speak directly to the police you can contact the independent charity Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 or online at www.crimestoppers-uk.org No personal details are taken, information is not traced or recorded and you will not go to court.