An accommodation block belonging to Trinity Hall was broken into and students there were attacked in their rooms in the early hours of Saturday morning.
Two students, who were asleep in rooms in Bishop Bateman Court on Thompson’s Lane, were attacked by the intruders and one student’s room was ransacked. The intruders went through the students’ belongings and then left them in a variety of locations including the roof of the building and the garden area.
One of the victims, Tom Cheshire, said: “I just woke up and this guy was throttling me. His trousers were undone and he didn’t have his shirt on. I was quite scared. At first I thought it was my friend who also has a shaved head so I told him to stop it, but then he whacked my girlfriend. I wrestled him off
Intruders to Bishop Bateman Court 'throttle' one student and assault others
and then he said, ‘Sorry, I’ve got the wrong person’ and left.” This incident took place at around 4.35 am.
Cheshire reported that at six o’clock, “A hand came through my window and was on my laptop. They couldn’t take the laptop because it was held by the speaker wires. They took my Latin books though and left them on a windowsill outside. The first intruder could hardly walk but the second one was quite agile.” Cheshire said that his
door had not been locked.
Julia Tilley was in her boyfriend’s room when an intruder came in. “Someone walked into the room,” she said. “My boyfriend shouted ‘Who the hell are you?’ and he replied ‘I’m a foreign student’ and then left.
“When I got back to my room in the morning, my laptop was gone and my room was ransacked. I felt violated and disturbed. They had left a rolled-up ten pound note, probably for coke, on my desk. It was really upsetting.
“They also put all my knickers in a box and then left them outside in the garden. My laptop was on the drain pipe outside and my fountain pen and medical card were also lying around in the building.”
Camilla Winfield said that she awoke at around 4.30am to see a man clawing at her window and trying to force it open. “It was like a scene from a horror film”, she said.
David Fanego said that he heard the
screams of his neighbour when one of the intruders entered her room. He claims he then heard the muffled words, “help me” and the sound of something being forced into her mouth. He took a knife from the kitchen and opened her door but the intruder had escaped.
The victim of this attack returned home on Saturday in shock.
A spokesperson for Cambridgeshire Constabulary said: “We were called at 5.50am by Julia Tilley and arrived at 6.05am.We had reports of an intruder trying doors, having got in through a window.
“We were told that the informant had not been attacked and no assaults were reported. We recorded it as a suspicious incident and made a search of the property but no one was found.”
However, complaints have been made about police procedure and response to the accident. Fanego alleges that when the police came they took no notes and were
uninterested in what he had to say. He thinks this may have been because he is Spanish and his English is not fluent.
Students claim that the intruder must still have been on the property at the time of the police search. There are reports that he was subsequently seen at around 6am searching in the undergrowth at the back of Bishop Bateman Court and was then seen falling asleep in a bush.
Cambridgeshire Constabulary said, “That’s their report. Unless we’re told there are people hiding in the bushes we wouldn’t search the bushes outside as that is not a sensible use of police time.”
The police were called again in the morning when they received another report, this time of a burglary and an assault. “Somebody has reported that they woke up with an intruder near their bed and started screaming when he put his hand over the victim’s mouth. He first ran into the toilet and then escaped out of the room.”
Police did not arrive till Saturday afternoon and in response to accusations that they were slow to return, Cambridgeshire Constabulary said, “We have a finite amount of resources.
“This incident was not an ongoing burglary. Grade ‘A’ incidents, such as ongoing violent crimes, must take priority. However, it will be fully investigated.”
One Trinity Hall undergraduate commented that this incident has made the student body feel unsafe. “I was told that in Bishop Bateman Court, someone can ring on the bell, and anyone can buzz them in.
“We’re all really shocked - we didn’t expect this to happen. The police weren’t very good. People were getting really annoyed that they were being stopped for going the wrong way on their bikes outside Sainsbury’s but the police didn’t come for ages on Saturday.”
Senior Tutor of Trinity Hall, Dr Nick Bampos, commented “It is not clear how the intruders got into College accommodation as there
was no evidence of forced entry. The College Porters spent most of Saturday looking at the site for obvious security weak-spots, but it may be that entry was via an open window or door.”
In response to questions about whether the college holds students responsible because many did not lock their doors, Dr Bampos said, “The College makes every effort to ensure that all accommodation is secure and all locks operational. It appears that some students leave their doors unlocked overnight. The College emphasises the need to secure rooms at all times.”
Dr Bampos added “The security and safety or our students is of the highest priority. The College has a duty to protect its students by providing secure accommodation and informing all students of the importance of adhering to our security protocols, all of which are assessed and updated on a regular basis.
“The events early on Saturday morning
highlighted what can happen if windows or doors are not locked. Cambridge may not be the safe place people would like it to be, which is why all members of the College must be cautious when in College accommodation or simply walking through the town.”
JCR President Rob Chapman commented, “Our JCR is understandably upset by the break in. Cambridge is on the whole a safe place and many of us get too comfortable in that and do not necessarily protect ourselves properly.”
“The Senior Tutor and Head Porter were in college all weekend assisting the police with their enquiries and supporting our students. College seems to have settled back down well this week. The JCR will offer every support possible to help them recover.”
Posted on Friday 16 November 2007
