Head fears vendetta in £60,000 trail of damage (From Asian Image)

Head fears vendetta in £60,000 trail of damage

8:00am Thursday 9th February 2012 in News By Dolores Cowburn

Teachers at a Bradford primary school targeted by vandals five times in as many months fear they are the victim of a prolonged vendetta that has caused £60,000 worth of damage so far.

Children at Princeville Primary School in Willowfield Street, Listerhills, have been left devastated after their £32,000 log cabin was burned to the ground.

That cabin was situated in their Forest School, which had a £70,000 overhaul to establish it as an educational haven.

Things got even worse last weekend when two minibuses and a car used to take youngsters on school trips were wrecked by vandals who smashed the windows and pulled out the dashboard of one of the vehicles.

Meanwhile, before Christmas, up to 11 mini laptops were stolen in three separate robberies, according to deputy headteacher Michelle Hargreaves.

She said that it was horrible for the children and teachers to constantly face the damage wreaked by vandals.

“It feels like a vendetta, but we don’t know who it is,” she said. “Why us? Why do we continue to be targeted?

“We don’t know whether it is children or adults but it feels like our pupils are missing out because of this vandalism.

“It was just awful to discover the damage on Monday and the children could not play out because of the damage. It put a downer on everything.”

As well as wrecking the log cabin, the school has been forced to erect metal shutters over all their windows to deter the thieves.

“There will be a massive clear up job down at the Forest School and these vandals have stopped the children going down there to do their work,” Miss Hargreaves added.

“This was their favourite part of school.

“The people doing this are not thinking about what the impact of their actions is having on children in this community.

“I just wish they would stop and think about what they are doing as it is very probably people in this area doing it to youngsters who are their brothers and sisters and cousins who come to this school.

“They are ruining the youngsters’ chances of a good education.”

Inspector Kevin Pickles of the City Ward Neighbourhood Policing Team, said that police were aware of the reports and continued to investigate each of them individually.

“At this stage, there is nothing to suggest that they are connected, however we are keeping an open mind as to those responsible,” he added.

“I appreciate that these kinds of offences can be disruptive to the pupils and it is important we are quickly able to put a stop to this.

“Anyone who has seen anyone acting suspicious in or around the area either after school or during a weekend is asked to contact us immediately.

“You can do this by calling us on the non emergency number 101 or anonymously through Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.”