DAYLIGHT robbers have stolen an estimated £2,500-worth of jewellery, goods and cash by smashing their way into a States house and breaking into a safe. The haul included a sentimental 24-carat solid gold nugget containing a small diamond, a gold cross, DVDs, CDs, prescribed medicine and a mobile phone from an upstairs bedroom.

After forcing entry through a gate at the side of 28, Mahaut Gardens, Collings Road, it is believed that a shovel was used to try to smash through a back-door panel. The panel was finally kicked in. The incident took place between 7.50am and 5.30pm on Wednesday.

Dale Hockey, 43, a mother of three, believed the burglars knew her son Ryan, 23, and specifically targeted cash in a safe in his bedroom.

‘He is no angel but in the last year he has kept out of trouble and has been at work and has kept his nose clean,’ said his mother.

She believed the culprits knew what they were looking for and could have burgled to feed drug habits.

‘They did not touch any rooms apart from my son’s, which is at the top of the stairs, and they have left a hole in the TV,’ she said.

A digital safe, the panel of which was ripped off, was removed from the house.

‘Inside the safe was cash, because my son and his girlfriend were saving up for a deposit for a flat. They stole his gold nugget that his girlfriend bought for him for his birthday in March and it’s of great sentimental value,’ said Ms Hockey, who works in the boat-building industry.

Other items were taken from the bedroom.

‘They did not take anything else from the house and it must be someone that knows it’s Ryan’s room,’ said his mother. ‘But they have to think they have not targeted Ryan. They have targeted me because it’s my house.’

The property is in clear view of the road.

‘It’s daylight robbery. What I can’t understand is that there were many workmen on the estate and that whoever left the house took away a wheeled suitcase and a safe and did not get seen,’ she said.

‘There was no space for a car outside and how nobody heard the noise of the door being kicked in I don’t know.’

This is the first time her house has been burgled in 23 years on the estate.

‘I think they knew the money was there or somebody has tipped off somebody else that there was money here. My son feels very let down and the same way as me, but we will press charges whether it’s a friend or not,’ she said.

Police are investigating the break-in and are appealing for any information.