Palmerston’s Mad Hatterz Cafe forced to close indefinitely after fourth break-in since opening

A TOP End cafe has been forced to indefinitely close its doors after being broken into four times in the short time it has been open.

A PALMERSTON cafe has been forced to indefinitely close its doors after being broken into four times in the short time it has been open.

The owners of Mad Hatterz Cafe in Tivendale made the announcement on Facebook today after being broken into for the fourth time in the early hours of this morning.

Co-owner Jess Gooley said the financial loss of being broken into again meant the business had to close until further notice.

“This time they smashed the whole side window,” she said.

“They left all freezers open, defrosted everything.

“We won’t be trading, even though we have insurance the outlay of money is still going to be huge.”

Some of the damage from the most recent break-in at Mad Hatterz Cafe in Palmerston. Picture: Supplied

Some of the damage from the most recent break-in at Mad Hatterz Cafe in Palmerston. Picture: Supplied

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Ms Gooley said they were devastated about having to close their beloved business.

“We’re a small family-run local business. Each time broken into it’s getting harder and harder – we don’t know if we can bounce back,” she said.

“It not only effects us but our staff members are casual. Now they won’t be able to pay their bills this week because I won’t have any work for them.”

She said NT Police were stretched to breaking point at the moment, making it even harder. After being notified of the break-in at 12:30pm, she was still waiting for police to attend the cafe at around 4pm.

Freezers were left open in the most recent break-in at Mad Hatterz Cafe in Palmerston. Picture: Supplied

Mad Hatterz Cafe in Palmerston after the most recent break-in. Picture: Supplied

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“We understand there’s a lot going on in the NT at the moment but we’ve been waiting a long time to get anyone out,” Ms Gooley said.

“We hounded the police and still haven’t had any charges laid over the previous break-ins.”

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