UNITED KINGDOM NUMEROUS SCHOOLS VICTIMIZED BY COMPUTER THIEVES SPREEthis is nottingham - news, entertainment, jobs, homes and cars12:00 - 10 February 2004


Schools are being targeted by thieves attracted to the increasing amount of technology now found in the classroom. Organised criminal gangs are believed to be involved in the burglaries which cost schools nearly £1m last year. LYNETTE PINCHESS reports

Being burgled just once is a nightmare for anyone. To be hit by thieves FIVE times in nine days is almost unthinkable.

But that's what happened at Milford Primary and Nursery in Clifton.

To the school, the loss is more than just financial - it causes massive disruption to children's lessons and learning.

So far two computers - including one used by special needs pupils - and a scanner have been stolen, along with a new laptop taken from the office of head teacher Christine Stopard.

The total cost of the haul comes to £5,000 - not including the damage to windows where raiders forced their way in since the thefts started on January 23.

"It's been a nightmare," said Mrs Stopard. "Although we are insured we have to pay £250 excess for computers. It's costing the school a lot of money, which we can ill-afford."

Blessed Robert Widmerpool Roman Catholic Primary, which shares the same site with Milford Primary, was burgled three times over one weekend.

It had three flat-screen monitors, a computer processing unit and an electronic microscope, worth £1,000, snatched between January 24 and 25.

Head teacher Hilary Jackson said: "It was quite distressing. I was called out on Saturday night. I came in on Sunday lunchtime to find we had been broken into again. When the caretaker arrived on Monday, there had been another break-in. It was horrendous."

These are just two of the hundreds of Notts schools that have been targeted by thieves over the past year.

There was more than one burglary a day in 2003 with thieves getting away with computer equipment totalling almost £1m.

The main targets are laptops, projectors, digital cameras and flat-screen monitors, with some schools targeted just after the arrival of new equipment.

Head teachers are turning to increasingly elaborate security measures to prevent thieves striking again.

In some cases thieves have struck while pupils, teachers or community groups were on the premises.

Pupils were enjoying a Christmas disco at College House Junior School in Chilwell last year when thieves raided another part of the building.

A gang forced their way through a ground floor window. The main entrance door was locked but the security alarm was off.

Twelve laptops, worth nearly £9,000, and two staff handbags were stolen during the break-in on December 18.

Head teacher John Wilson said: "They are very clever. They seem to have some knowledge of schools and information about what's going on."

Schools and colleges across Notts have been hit, including those in Arnold, Clifton, West Bridgford, Bramcote, Chilwell, Stapleford, Bestwood Village, Bulwell, Ruddington and Redhill.

A spate of break-ins in South Notts police division last month prompted the local area commander at Beeston to write to the head of risk management at the county's education department calling for a security review.

Inspector Bob Lake said what had started off as a "blip" had grown into an alarming trend.

And he feared organised gangs may be behind some of the raids.

"It looks like it's a trend that's here to stay. We just hope schools take the right precautions. Schools are an increasing target.

"I think there could be two or three organised teams of travelling professionals who have an outlet to dispose of things like projectors and laptops. There is always someone who will buy a laptop or computer."

Insp Lake has advised schools to have a 'strong room' to protect expensive equipment.

"Schools are so big and vulnerable because of their size. We suggested making a particular room a fortress with bars at the window, security and hardened doors, extra locks and even a separate alarm system."

One of the latest victims is Bramcote Park Comprehensive, which suffered raids on January 15 and 24 - as well as two earlier raids last October and December.

Four projectors worth £4,800, a £1,000 laptop and £600 desktop computer were stolen.

Chris Teal, deputy head teacher, said "These thefts affect every child in the school and devalue the lesson. The children are the losers and that is very sad."

The crime spree has prompted a security review.

Insp Lake said schools cannot afford to keep their guard down - even if staff or community groups are on the premises.

"The important message is that security has got to be 24 hours a day," he said.

"Schools have been notified about this alarming trend and advice has been circulated that it is important they review their procedures."

One head teacher, who did not want to be identified after his school in south Notts was raided twice, told the Post he suspected that the thieves had been tipped off by someone who knew when the computers were being delivered, or who had spotted boxes left out for refuse collection.

In the first break-in on December 8, thieves stole six new video projectors that had been installed the day before.

On December 18 the thieves returned and made off with eight flat screens, which had been locked in a stockroom after being delivered the week before. The head teacher said most of his staff do not even know of the room's existence.

The National School in Hucknall has tightened security after four break-ins between August and October - coinciding with it becoming a specialist technology college.

In the biggest haul, 30 computers were lowered from a first floor window.

On another occasion, thieves got away with new computers - still in their boxes - within two days of their delivery.

Head teacher David Shannon said: "We know that you need to change your routine, so we put them in a room you'd not normally expect them to be in - yet they were taken within two days."

The loss of the equipment and cost of strengthening security has was more than £85,000.

There have been "significant upgrades" in security - some of which they did not want to disclose.

But visible precautions include 6ft perimeter fencing, replacing some of the glass windows with solid material, fitting folding metal grilles to "vulnerable" windows and using security cases to bolt equipment to floors and ceilings.

The school's business manager Neil Bonsall said: "It's very evident they know exactly what they are looking for. They only go for the latest models.

"The amount of security we have in this building is amazing... we can't allow it to continue."

Manning School in Aspley has not had any equipment stolen but has suffered £5,000 of damage from thieves trying to gain entry.

In the latest attack on January 24, the window of a computer suite was smashed but a grille blocked the offenders' entry. After forcing their way into another part of the building they smashed internal walls and flooded floors. Despite managing to get into a technology room, they escaped empty-handed.

Head teacher Phil Lidstone said: "It was an act of wanton vandalism. That is £5,000 that won't be spent on books or equipment."

The school is now considering employing a security guard at weekends after an almost weekly spate of attacks since before Christmas.

"The short-term position of having a guard on site at weekends for a few weeks would cost less than the damage," said Mr Lidstone.

One head teacher in Notts said his staff no longer disposed of computer boxes in the school's skip - he gets rid of them 25 miles away in a skip in Newark, near his home, to throw thieves off the scent.

He said: "They may be going round schools and looking in the litter. If they see boxes with Hewlett Packard they know there are new computers and target you."