Leamington FC’s club house targeted by thieves in night raid

Volunteers working hard to get Leamington FC ready for next season have described the latest break in at the club as a “kick in the teeth”.
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Thieves targeted the New Windmill Ground’s club house on Sunday night, stealing bottles of spirits and breaking into two tills which were damaged along with windows and up to £8,000 worth of security equipment.

The incident was discovered and reported to the police on Monday morning and after examinations had taken place at the crime scene a group of volunteers worked until 8pm to make the club house safe and secure again.

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Volunteer John Reading said: “It is soul destroying for volunteers who spend hours and hours trying to develop the ground for players and supporters and then you get some morons who do this.

“There is an alarm system and CCTV in place but it seems as if somebody has cased the site and found ‘dead spots’ on the cameras.

“They cut the wires to shut the security down and, after trying to break in the front door, they climbed in through the roof above the women’s toilets.”

The last incidents of this type took place at the club in February 2011 where thieves stole four TVs, food, alcohol and sweets and vandalised the bar and kitchen in two burglaries in the space of a week.

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In 2010 thieves broke through a brick wall at the men’s toilets and stole spirits and a small amount of cash and in 2008 thieves broke down two sets of iron-gridded double doors causing £4,000 worth of damage and stole more than £500 worth of computer equipment, sweets and alcohol.

After the break-ins in 2011 the club launched a campaign to raise £7,500 towards security equipment.

At that time chairman Jim Scott said security measures had been improved year on year but admitted the New Windmill Ground’s isolated location makes it vulnerable to thieves.

Facilities director Kevin Watson said: “Insurance should cover most of the costs but we will have the raise some funds to improve the security and we will be asking the Brake’s trust to help us out.

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“This is a real kick in the teeth for the volunteers who are working very hard getting the club ready for the new season but we’ll get over it like we always have done.”

Fearing an incident could soon happen again, Mr Watson is asking anybody living near the ground to be alert to any suspicious activity and to report any information they may have about the break-in to police.

Call 101 or 415000 or alternatively contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 or visit www.crimestoppers-uk.org

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