Three colleges have fallen victim to thieves in a spate of burglaries this week, including the loss of a widescreen television from St Anne’s JCR.
Students were astonished as they entered the common room to discover that the enormous TV had vanished.
JCR President George Kynaston informed the college by email and offered a day of amnesty on Monday to anyone returning the TV.
He said, “I’m hoping this was someone in the JCR just being stupid and that we can get the TV back without any trouble.”
No information has been forthcoming, but he dismissed the idea that it may have been an outside theft, saying, “it would be pretty tricky to smuggle that TV past the
porters lodge.”
College authorities are currently studying CCTV footage and police may get involved.
An intruder, believed to be from outside of college, also broke into a student’s room in St Peter’s college.
The incident took place on the 8th of October between 6.00 pm and 2.30 am, while the student was out. The burglar was caught on CCTV scaling a wall. Investigations are ongoing.
St. Peter’s JCR president Sanjay Nanwani maintains that the college has “acted promptly” and that members of the JCR have been kept “regularly informed of developments”.
He confirmed that he is certain that “the necessary steps will be taken to ensure the integrity and security of [their] premises.”
Jessica Davies, a second year who lived last year on the staircase where the theft took place, said, “I never had any concerns about security at St. Peter’s and I’m confident it was only a one-off.”
Theft also hit LHM, with the loss of a laptop at around 8pm on the 7th of October. This follows a series of burglaries in the Jericho area over the previous few days.
Five of the incidents resulted from students not locking their doors properly or in some cases leaving them open.
Thames Valley Police are currently investigating whether this incident is linked with several other thefts of jewellery, iPods, laptops, digital cameras, cash and even champagne.
Deputy Sergeant Marc Tarbit, who leads the Oxford Burglary team, issued the following statement, “we seem to have at least one person targeting properties in the Jericho area and some Jericho residents have made the burglar’s job far easier for them.”
The police have urged all students to make sure that their doors and windows are secure before they leave the house.
