A student of Modern and Medieval Languages at St John’s College on his year abroad was robbed of most of his possessions this weekend. 

Sam Watts, who is living in Buenos Aires for the 2016-17 academic year as part of his course in Spanish and French, was hosting pre-drinks in his flat with two friends at the time of the robbery on Sunday morning. His mother and sister, who were visiting him, were also in the flat.

He told Varsity: “At about 2[a.m.] a group of men ran into our room. My friend Alice screamed and they punched her in the face. They held us down and tied us up then put bags over our heads. They they told us to tell them where we kept all our money.

“I was pretty terrified as I had no idea what was happening with my mum and sister. Then after a while I heard them being brought in blindfolded and then they tied them up too.”

He said that the men had ransacked the house, taking “pretty much everything we had: laptops, phones, watches” in addition to “thousands and thousands of pesos and hundreds of dollars”. 

The ordeal extended over 30-40 minutes, he said, before the men warned them not to call the police, and then left with the residents’ keys.

Watts also described how his friend Alice thought to throw her phone under a bed when she was assaulted, meaning that it was not found by the group of men. The victims of the robbery were then able to use it to ring both the police and a group of friends who had left the party to go clubbing before the robbery had taken place.

The police stationed a guard outside the flat for the rest of the night and the following day, noting that the men could not have entered the building without keys. Watts and his flatmates changed the locks on its doors.

Crime rates are high in Buenos Aires. The Overseas Security Advisory Council of the US State Department warns: “Long-term residents have greater exposure to criminal activity while living in Buenos Aires. RSO [the Regional Safety Officer] has received increased reports of home invasions and robberies to include apartment buildings and businesses.”

Speaking to Varsity about the incident, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office said: “We are providing assistance to a British national who was robbed in Argentina.”