Moment gang breaks into Royal Marine Major’s shop to steal £100,000 worth of boutique bicycles from the wounded Afghanistan veteran’s business

• Major Steve McCulley spent weeks in a coma after an IED attack in Afghanistan 

This is the moment a gang broke into the shop of a Royal Marine officer and stole £100,000 worth of boutique bicycles. 

Major Steve McCulley, who suffered horrific injuries from an IED attack in Afghanistan, has today appealed for help after his shop in Lee-on-the-Solent, Hampshire, was looted.

Police are hunting the group which used cutting equipment to break into the store.

The 45-year-old, had to be medically discharged from the military after spending three weeks in a coma and three years in rehab, was alerted to the raid when alarms at the shop were triggered in the early hours of the morning.

But by the time he and police arrived the gang had fled with 11 high-end bikes.

Major Steve McCulley, who suffered horrific injuries from an IED attack in Afghanistan, has today appealed for help after his shop was looted

Police are hunting the gang after they used cutting equipment to break into the store

By the time Major McCulley and police arrived at the shop the gang had fled with 11 high-end bikes (pictured is a LIOS Thunderbolt ENVE Edition which was stolen)

CCTV shows that in the targeted operation, using two ‘spotters’ on mopeds, five other masked and hooded burglars cut through galvanised steel gates before looting the store and loading bikes into a large van.

Major McCulley fears the bicycles, seven of which are mountain bikes from his own custom-built brand LIOS, will now be broken down into parts or shipped abroad where they cannot be traced.

However, he is appealing for help from members of the public to keep an eye out for the bikes and help trace the criminals responsible.

He was horrified by the weekend raid, saying: ‘We are all utterly devastated by what happened on Saturday.

‘I know I may never get the bikes back, as they’re probably already stripped down, or they may be in a shipping container heading out of the country.’

He added: ‘But I am hoping that any attention that this gets might help to catch the criminals. It was definitely an organised, professional crew.

‘They knew what they were doing, what they were looking for and they had both electric disc cutter plus a petrol one to get through the galvanised steel gates.’

Major McCulley (pictured in his shop following the break-in) fears the bicycles, seven of which are mountain bikes from his own custom-built brand LIOS, will now be broken down into parts or shipped abroad where they cannot be traced

CCTV footage shows the gang breaking into the shop and stealing £100,000 worth of boutique bicycles

CCTV shows that in the targeted operation, using two ‘spotters’ on mopeds, five other masked and hooded burglars cut through galvanised steel gates before looting the store and loading bikes into a large van

The 45-year-old, had to be medically discharged from the military after spending three weeks in a coma and three years in rehab, was alerted to the raid when alarms at the shop were triggered in the early hours of the morning

Major McCulley is appealing for help from members of the public to keep an eye out for the bikes and help trace the criminals responsible

A spokesman for Hampshire police today said: ‘A number of custom-made bikes with an estimated value of around £100,000 were reported stolen’ (pictured is a Zerode Katipo Special Edition which was stolen)

Major McCulley, who is now married to 45-year-old performance coach Hayley, was woken just before 3am when the shop’s monitoring system alerted police.

He raced to the scene, and police arrived ‘about 10 minutes later’, but the raiders had already fled.

A spokesman for Hampshire police today said: ‘Officers attended the unit on Daedalus Park following an alarm activation at around 3am on Saturday 2 September.

‘A number of custom-made bikes with an estimated value of around £100,000 were reported stolen.’

One of Steve’s former colleagues shared details of the raid on social media.

He said: ‘Any burglary or theft is horrendous, but this adds another despicable dimension. Steve has spent most of his life in the service of others. These evil people must be brought to justice.’

Another friend and former Royal Marine, Jason ‘Foxy’ Fox said: ‘These scumbags bust into LIOS Bikes in Lee-on-the-Solent, robbed £100k worth of bikes.

‘Place is owned by a friend and former Royal Marine, please reach out if you have any info on this.’

Major McCulley, who is now married to 45-year-old performance coach Hayley, was woken just before 3am when the shop’s monitoring system alerted police

Having served in Northern Ireland, the Balkans and Iraq, Major McCulley was lucky to survive his tour of Afghanistan

Another friend and former Royal Marine, Jason ‘Foxy’ Fox said: ‘These scumbags bust into LIOS Bikes in Lee-on-the-Solent, robbed £100k worth of bikes’

The father of two had to rebuild his life after sustaining serious injuries when three IED blasts ripped onto him in 2011, and while undergoing three years of surgery and rehab he set up LIOS bikes in Lee on the Solent, Hampshire

Pictured here are metal shutters which were destroyed as the gang broke into the bicycle shop

Mr McCulley raced to the scene, and police arrived ‘about 10 minutes later’, but the raiders (pictured) had already fled

Major McCulley’s business LIOS is named after his two children – Lily, now 15, and Oscar, 16

The father of two had to rebuild his life after sustaining serious injuries when three IED blasts ripped onto him in 2011, and while undergoing three years of surgery and rehab he set up LIOS bikes.

The business is named after his two children – Lily, now 15, and Oscar, 16.

Having served in Northern Ireland, the Balkans and Iraq, Major McCulley was lucky to survive his tour of Afghanistan.

He said: ‘I was on a fighting patrol when I was targeted by a directional fragmentation charge which was triggered as I went past.

‘It was a big blast and I was in a bad way but fortunately the lads did well to keep me alive on the ground before a helicopter came in and I was put to sleep. I then spent three weeks in a coma.

The shop owner added: ‘I suffered multiple fragmentation injuries – basically it tore my chest apart.

‘I had to have most of my right lung removed and I had a fragmented right femur and patella.’

Undergoing rehabilitation at Headley Court, Major McCulley realised he would have to be medically discharged and needed to create a new livelihood so turned to his passion for bicycles.

Having raced as a child and represented the Royal Navy and Royal Marines in mountain biking and road racing, he couldn’t continue as the same level but set up LIOS making custom bikes on the south coast.

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