Wick Boards smash and grab: UK’s first e-skate shop ram raided and £25,000 stock burgled

The UK’s first electric skateboard shop might have to close down after it was ram raided and cleared of £25,000 worth of stock.

But the community is rallying behind Owen Williams, the owner of Wick Boards, after the shop in Wallis Road was burgled on June 12.

CCTV images have captured two men making off with 15 electric boards and "one wheels" - similar to a hoverboard but where the rider faces sideways rather than forward.

They also took a few electric scooters, some helmets and a surfboard that was on display.

E-skaters from the e-skateboard community Carve UK will zip around in convoy at the Olympic Park this weekend in support of Wick Boards as part of a fundraiser at video game bar Four Quarters East, which will feature live bands.

Owen, a visual effects technician who helped design the Batmobile in Batman Begins, combined his passion for engineering and design with his passion for skateboarding when he launched the shop a year ago, to showcase a future trend he saw taking off.

But with the lost stock's retail value totting up to £25,000 which is not covered on insurance, added to the cost of repairing the shutters, he's now devastated it might go under.

The shop specialises in electric skateboards and as well as the major brands sells its own custom boards too, with prices ranging from £500 up to £4,000.

Sam Golden who helped set up the shop told the Gazette: "Owen put his life and soul into building this shop over the past year as did many others. This is a massive blow to the UK E-Skate community that the shop was built for.

"It's such a devastating thing to happen, a lot of the local kids had taken to hanging out in the shop at weekends and school holidays as there is no other kind of place like we've built in the borough.

"All the electric skateboarders will come together to show some support for Wick Boards at the weekend.

"I think it'll be really cool to watch, and during the event we will be selling T-shirts and taking donations to see how much we can recover."

The event on Saturday takes place from 2pm to 11pm with the ride-out starting at 5.30pm.

The shop is waiting to hear back from police.

To donate see gofundme.com/f/1nzz548smo.