Thieves have stolen lead from the roof of St Martin’s School in Caerphilly – the third time the school has been targeted this year.
The latest theft happened sometime between December 6 and December 12. Police have said a “a large quantity” of lead was stolen.
Headteacher Kerry Davies said: “We are upset and angry that the school’s old building has been damaged for the third time this year.
“The theft of lead from the roof has caused enormous amounts of damage and cost the school money. Even more importantly, our pupils’ learning has been disrupted by unavoidable re-rooming and changes to the timetable.
“Although we took action after the first incident to minimise the potential for further criminal damage, the small amounts remaining have recently been taken causing more water ingress in areas which had been repaired.
“I would urge all members of the community to be aware of such thefts and contact the police if they see anything suspicious on our site or any other public site.”
• Gwent Police and Caerphilly Country Borough Council recently held a day targeting illegal scrap metal dealers in the county borough.
The day-long operation, held on December 5, saw scrap metal dealers stopped in Abercarn and they checked to see if they were licensed under the Scrap Metal Dealers Act 2013 – which came into force in October this year.
The thieves must have an outlet to sell their stolen metal and this means a scrap yard. It strikes me that a thorough investigation of the scrap yards would be more effective than stopping the scrap collecters vehicles. I am not against the police checking these vehicles but, as with all organised crime, the odd conviction of the 'little fish' will not stop the problem. The large yards need to be checked too as this is where the metal ends up.
This has occurred many times at the same school. We are told that we live in one of the poorest educated part of the UK but has no one, responsible for the schools in our area, heard of SmartWater? If not, those responsible for securing the assets of us rate payers should be replaced with those who have a modicum of intelligence. Why oh why do the south Wales valleys not attain reasonable competence? 100 years of the same ideology perhaps?
Jeff is correct, not just about forensic investigation to deter crime as offered by Smartwater, but by the low education standard of this borough. It would be good to hear from the board of governers of this school. Perhaps they can tell us about the plans they have to prevent any more roofing material being stolen?
Mmm…very suspicious. It was probably stole by the St Martin's school pupils to sell in their 'Young Enterprise' project.
I am currently working on a project about metal theft in the South Wales Valleys. I am in my 2nd year of Photography in Ystrad Mynach College… (Colleg Y Cymoedd).
If you have been the unfortunate victim of metal theft, I would appreciate if you could respond to this message, and if convenient… perhaps let me come and take photographs of the damage caused (before any restoration work occurs).
Sad state of affairs. Our company marks lead copper and other metals with a readable mark to deter metal theft, and make it easier to prove where the metal has come from if it is stolen. Happy to discuss as we are working with schools, churches, electricity companies. David W Arthur, Project Manager, Signature Materials