Thief steals £9k watch from Brighton shop

A man has stolen a £9,000 Breitling watch from a Brighton jewellers.

He stole the watch from Ernest Jones in Churchill Square at about 4pm on Friday (20 April) and made off towards Cannon Place.

Sussex Police said that the man had been looking at the high-value brand name watches in a locked glass display cabinet.

A member of staff asked whether he needed any help. He said no.

He then walked over to the cabinet containing the Breitling watches and paused for a few seconds before leaving the store.

He returned and asked to try on a Breitling watch. As the assistant placed it on his wrist, he grabbed it and made off out of the shopping centre.

Sussex Police said that the stolen watch was white metal with a brown leather crocodile pattern strap.

It has a mother of pearl face, eight diamonds dotted around the face and a small amount of yellow metal around the north, south, east and west points of the rim.

The suspect was described as a slim white man, about 5ft 9in tall and with short blond or ginger hair.

He was wearing a long-sleeved red jumper with the word Hollister written across the front and the sleeves pushed up. He was also wearing dark jeans.

He had a slight scar or mark on the left side of the upper lip and spoke with a southern accent.

Anyone who saw the theft or who has been offered the watch for sale is asked to contact Sussex Police by dialling 101.