Three intruders broke into a staircase at Brasenose college’s Frewin Court Annexe in the early hours of Sunday morning, and started attacking each other with fire extinguishers.
Two Brasenose students, Tom Wales and Matthew Bittlestone were forced to take cover in a nearby kitchen.
Bittlestone then confronted the intruders, forcing them off the Brasenose premises.
The break-in took place at around 3am on Sunday morning. The three intruders entered Frewin Court by walking in through the swipe-gate behind Laura West-Wilson.
The three entered the staircase where Wales and Bittlestone were sitting. Cherwell understands that the intruders were all in the mid to late twenties, and all with shaved heads.
West-Wilson said, “The guys followed me in. They said they were there for Abbie’s party. But there was no party and no one called Abbie.”
Wales explained the confusion that ensued. “Laura entered the staircase with these three boys,” he said. “We thought they were with her, and she thought they were friends of ours.”
The three intruders proceeded to remove fire extinguishers from the staircase and “mindlessly” attack one another.
Bittlestone said, “I heard a commotion outside so went to investigate. There were three guys, and two had got hold of fire extinguishers which they were spraying everywhere. When I first heard the noise, I assumed it was students from College. But close up, I saw that I did not recognise any of them – then it became more serious…I said to one of the men, ‘What are you doing here?’ and grabbed the fire extinguisher from him.”
Following Bittlestone’s intervention, the strangers left, and stole a fire extinguisher on their way out.
JCR President Paul Gladwell said, “I was surprised that someone had managed to intrude, but relieved that no harm had been done to individuals. Security measures at Frewin and throughout Brasenose are perfectly adequate, but they must be upheld by individuals.”
The Dean of the college, Dr Giles Wiggs, told Cherwell, “Brasenose is a secure College and provides a safe living and working environment for students. Incidents of this type are extremely rare…If intruders are seen to gain entry then they should be reported at once to College authorities.”
In a separate incident, two first-year Brasenose students have been deaned following several drunken incidents in the college last Saturday morning.
The two involved allegedly trashed another student’s room, set off the fire alarm at approximately 4am, and threw a bottle of vodka at the night porter who came to investigate.
Speaking to Cherwell, one of the accused students said that the story had been grossly exaggerated. He claimed that the bottle of vodka was not thrown at the night porter; instead, it was flung away in panic when the student realised that the pair had been caught.He said it did not land close to its alleged target.
He also denied that the pair trashed a fellow student’s room. The room’s occupant was described as a “good friend” of the drunken pair, and the “trashing” amounted to little more than throwing the duvet off the bed.
Finally, although accepting that the fire alarm was set off, he claimed that it wasn’t intentional.
Dr Wiggs, commented, “I can confirm that an incident that took place in Brasenose on Saturday morning has been investigated and two students have been dealt with in accordance with College disciplinary procedures. I am not able to confirm the details of the case.”
One of the students involved said that although the level of punishment had not yet been decided by the college, he expected it to be “fairly severe”.
