A SHOP owner has said he is “heartbroken” after thieves stole thousands of pounds worth of stock from his store.

Thieves broke in to Sin City Comics in Commercial Street, Newport, between midnight and 9.30am yesterday.

They got away with a Mac laptop pro worth £1,500, £200 in cash, 250 tickets for the comic-con GeekedFest, set up by owner of the store Shane Jordan, as well as causing substantial damage to the store.

Mr Jordan, who says the business does not earn enough to pay himself a wage, said damage and stock taken will cost more than £6,000.

“The place was literally ransacked,” he said.

“Comic books were knocked down from the shelves, stand up boards had been destroyed and stuff was left all over the place.

“They even went into the CCTV room to take the hard drive with the footage on and they took the money from the float.

“It looks like they tried to get into the safe as well.

“It is really hard to take when you have put a lot of time and effort into the business.

“It is heartbreaking because I have risked a lot and put myself into debt for this.”

It is the second time the comic book store has been targeted after thieves stole around £2,000 worth of stock in November.

Mr Jordan, 32, of Ariel Reach, Newport, said he may have to consider moving back to Cwmbran, though his preference was to have the shop in Newport.

The store was opened in September last year, with Mr Jordan turning his 20- year love of comic book collecting into a reality.

His aim was to bring the community together, as he has by running the annual GeekedFest at Newport Leisure Centre.

The gathering includes celebrity guests, stalls and activities for families, and is due to be held on August 5 and 6 this summer.

Mr Jordan is urging people to only buy tickets for Geekedfest via the Geekedfest events website and ticketsource.

All tickets sold through Sin City Comics should be Wednesday, June 14, 2017 3 southwalesargus.co.uk/news NEWS IN BRIEF signed and dated by staff.

A gofundme page has been set up aiming to raise £4,000 to help Mr Jordan’s comic store.

The page states: “This is the second time Sin City Comics has been broken into and this time round we can’t rise up from this without help.

“So many of you have offered to help so we are setting up this page to allow those of you that want to can do so.

“We accept your help with the deepest gratitude and hope that we can remain open and have you as our customers once again.”

The store was closed yesterday but is expected to reopen today.

A spokeswoman for Gwent Police urged anyone with information to come forward.

“We received a call about a burglary at Sin City Comics, Commercial Street, Newport that took place sometime between midnight last night Monday, June 12 and 9.30am on Tuesday, June 13.

“Items including cash and computer equipment were stolen. If anyone has any information about this, please call 101 quoting log 95 13/6/17.”

Visit gofundme.com/sinci tycomicswales