Students hit by Leamington crime wave

Leamington Police have reported a significant increase in crime levels in the south Leamington area in the past week.

The rise has been particularly prominent in vehicle crime and domestic burglaries, and in several cases the victims have been Warwick students. Leamington Police stated that five vehicles and five houses have been broken into.

The _Boar _spoke to one student house in south Leamington, which recently experienced a burglary at six am., whilst all but one of the residents were in the house.

Second-year Mechanical Engineering student Sudeep Gurung commented on the effect of the burglary: “Leamington’s not as safe as I thought it was. It was one small mistake that led to an expensive loss for us.”

Housemate and second-year Maths student Zoe Tavares disagreed: “I don’t think the case is that Leamington is unsafe per say. Crime is everywhere, it’s just easy to forget when you’re at university and you never think it will happen to you.”

Tavares, who had her laptop and mobile stolen whilst asleep in the room at the time of the burglary, said that whilst it had not particularly scared her, “It’s made me more security conscious. Obviously the fact that I was in the room was a bit creepy, but it hasn’t really had much effect.”

“There’s a student housing sign outside our door, and I think burglars know that students will both have more valuables (every student has their own laptop and mobile etc.) and are more vulnerable and easy to target.”

Another housemate, second-year Maths student Callum Calvert, commented: “I never took burglaries seriously before but I sure will now. We students make very easy targets, so always lock your doors folks!”

Leamington Police stated that in many of the incidents reported there were no signs of forced entry, which may suggest that the vehicles involved may not have been locked.

Out of the five house burglaries reported to them in the past week, Leamington Police believe that two were entered through open windows, and one through an open rear door.

Students’ Union Welfare Officer Izzy John advised students to insure their possessions with a student-friendly company, adding: “If students have any concerns or have been the victims of a crime they should get in touch with the police, their landlords or estate agents and their Safer Neighbourhoods Team.”