Shocking moment thieves steal nine computers from Manchester gaming bar

CCTV footage has shown the moment thieves broke in and stole nine computers from a gaming cocktail bar in Manchester over the weekend.

Craig Ryan, the co-owner of Pixel Bar on Thomas Street in the Northern Quarter, spoke of his devastation following the burglary, which he says has hit the business hard both ‘financially and emotionally’.

The CCTV footage shows what appears to be three men – all dressed in black and wearing face coverings – walking into the PC Gaming Arena in the bar and taking several computers from the desks. 

One man was even seen looking directly at the camera as he unsuccessfully attempted to move it to block himself and his accomplices from view.

@pixelbarmcr / Instagram

Sharing the incriminating footage, Ryan wrote on social media: “This weekend our Manchester bar was burgled. The thieves got away with 9 of our PCs from our PC Gaming Arena.

“We’re devastated, financially and emotionally this has really hit us and I don’t know what to say.

“Needless to say, until we find a way to replace the hardware there will be no PC gaming or tournaments happening at the bar. We’ve no idea how long this will take.

“Personally this hurts so much. We’d just hosted a great university esports event and had a lot of events lined up.”

Ryan went on to explain that, while the rest of the bar will be open as normal, there will be a dramatic increase in the level of security throughout the venue to prevent any future burglaries. 

The police are now investigating the incident, and anyone with any information has been urged to get in contact, citing the crime number CRI/06A2/0013652/22. 

Ryan has listed the stolen items for people to keep an eye out for on online marketplaces. They are as follows:

• Processor (CPU) AMD Ryzen 7 5800X Eight Core CPU
• Motherboard ASUS® TUF X570-PLUS GAMING WIFI (USB 3.2 Gen 2, PCIe 4.0, CrossFireX)
• Memory (RAM) 16GB Corsair VENGEANCE RGB PRO DDR4 3200MHz (2 x 8GB)
• Graphics Card 8GB ASUS ROG STRIX GEFORCE RTX 3070 – HDMI, DP, LHR
• 1st M.2 SSD Drive 2TB CORSAIR MP400 NVMe PCIe M.2 SSD (up to 3480 MB/R, 3000 MB/W