gair rhydd
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ISSUE 849 OCTOBER 08 2007 CARDIFF’S STUDENT WEEKLY free word - EST. 1972
INSIDE...NEW LOOK GR/FEATURES/JOBS&MONEY/NEWS
CRACK DOWN ON CRIME William Taylor News Editor
IT’S A free-for-all for the burglars currently at large in Cathays, as police continue to find front doors left wide open day and night, gair rhydd has learned. This week, Cathays police found 13 houses with their doors unlocked in the space of just 30 minutes. The local police have warned residents that they are leaving their valuables, including wallets, laptops and TVs, on an easy-to-reach platter for Cardiff’s criminals. It is thought that the streets surrounding both Cathays and Roath are inhabited by heroin addicts who
will go to great lengths to fund their addictions. The offenders are usually so desperate for money to buy drugs that they will steal the smallest of items, such as shoes and jackets and sell them on for a meagre 50 pence. Often drug addicts, the thieves will have the sole goal of stealing enough goods to exchange for their next £10 bag of heroin. Head of Roath and Cathays CID, Detective Inspector Keith Joshua, said: “We are not talking about premises being ransacked. These are opportunist thefts carried out by criminals who will walk into homes and within 30 seconds will have picked up a laptop and be gone.” Earlier this week PC Bob Keohane
was checking doors in Cathays and managed to walk into one house and shout ‘hello’ from the hallway three times before anyone came downstairs. gair rhydd spoke to the occupants of the house and they responded by saying: “It’s hard to remember to lock our door because last year it locked automatically when it shut. “We wish our landlord would make the locks on our door more secure but they don’t seem to worried with our security to be honest.” The Cathays and Roath area is popular with burglars because it is densely populated with multi-occupancy homes that almost guarantee the opportunity of repeat steals. With the return of around 40,000 students to Cardiff in the last month,
PHOTO: Ed Salter
Police presence in Cathays increases as concerns rise over student safety
laptops have become popular stolen items on the streets of the city, with 14 stolen in the last fortnight alone. Local police sources have said that on average more than one property is burgled every day. This means Cathays and Roath’s burglary rates are far and beyond those for the rest of the city. It is thought that residents leaving their doors and windows wide open cause at least half of these burglaries. Police estimates suggest that there are around 400 frequent drug addicts in Cardiff, who each need to make up to £100 a day to fund their illegal habits. With a potential £33,600 worth of stolen goods needed to fund their addictions each year, there is a real and ongoing threat to homeowners. Drug dealers will swap stolen goods
in return for drugs, and so with the knowledge of this, burglars will continue to swamp the student areas of Cardiff. In light of this, DI Joshua said: “We recognise that burglary is a terrible crime that can have a traumatic impact on victims, but I would appeal to people to limit the opportunities put in front of burglars. “We are working hard targeting those responsible, but the public have to look after their property and need to be locking doors even when they are at home.” DI Joshua also urges anyone with information on any burglaries, or the sale of stolen goods, to call Cathays CID on 029 2052 7267 or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
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