A retired tennis coach, who once taught the likes of Queen’s Roger Taylor, has been left “devastated” after his home was ransacked by thieves.
Rob Bennett’s home on Morphie Drive, in the sleepy fishing village of St Cyrus, was targeted on Wednesday night.
The brazen criminals forced open his kitchen window before rifling through the small home, trailing dirt and sand across the floor and uprooting Mr Bennet’s belongings.
Thousands of pounds worth of personal items, such as jewellery and watches, many with personal attachments, were taken.
Mr Bennett was out playing tennis at the time of the incident and arrived home shortly after 9.30pm.
He believes he may have missed the thieves by a matter of minutes.
The 63-year-old, now retired, travelled around the world – including African and America – as a tennis coach and for a spell he coached Queen’s Roger Taylor, recalling one time the star was too hungover to make his training session.
In Dubai, he worked alongside famed American tennis coach Nick Bollettieri, who pioneered the concept of a tennis boarding school as he helped develop many leading tennis players including Andre Agassi, Jim Courier, Monica Seles and Mary Pierce.
Mr Bennett then returned to the UK to train players in Bollettieri’s style across his home city of Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire and England.
Speaking yesterday, taking a break from hours of tidying and cleaning, Mr Bennett said: “It has been a disaster.
“I got home about 9.40pm and tried to put my key in the door, but it didn’t open properly because the latch was down from the inside.
“I knew something was strange. Then I got in and saw all the mess.
“A lot of personal items from my family have been taken, which is heartbreaking.”
Mr Bennett immediately called the police, who arrived at about 11pm.
Detective Sergeant John Lumsden, from Aberdeen CID, said: “St Cyrus is a small village and so it is possible locals may have noticed suspicious people or vehicles on Wednesday night.
“If you have any information that may help our enquiry then please get in touch.
“We’d be keen to hear from anyone who may have dash-cam footage of vehicles in the area or maybe personal CCTV, including doorbell cameras, to check them and give us a call.”
It is thought the theft took place some time between 7pm and 9.15pm.
Morphie Drive residents were left “very shocked” after the incident.
One said: “I’ve lived in St Cyrus since 1996 and never seen anything like this.
“I hope the culprits are caught. That is something that should never have happened somewhere like this.”
Another said her “heart went out” to Mr Bennett.
Constable Ashley Stewart, of the Kincardine and Mearns local policing team, added: “We are urging anyone who has any information regarding this incident to contact us.
“We would also like to highlight the importance of keeping your home and property secure at all times.”
Anyone with information is urged to call police on 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111.
