the side of my property in North Place, where it adjoins the public footpath
between London Road and North Place itself, so-called 'Coffin Walk'.
Looking at the recorded footage, one of the youths climbed the adjacent gutter
downpipe and reached up to pull the wireless camera from its mounting, and then
made off with it!
A description of those involved, would be two youths of either mixed race or
perhaps Asian origin (IC4 or IC6), dressed in black leather jackets and jeans,
and a further two white youths (IC1) in pale grey hooded track suits, the
actual perpetrator wearing a camouflage baseball cap, with a whispy
beard/stubble.... All were probably perhaps approx. 14-17 years of age....
The group had initially passed the property heading south towards Waitrose a
few minutes before and noticed the camera, and then returned and made the climb
to steal it, they then walked along North Place in the direction of the rear of
the Library/the car park adjacent to the old barn, and into the Park.
I think by the look of things that the theft was more along the lines of an
opportunistic anti-social act rather than the beginning of a criminal
masterplan to disable my CCTV protection, but I thought it might be useful for
members to be on the lookout, and remind all of how easily a downpipe or gutter
might be scaled, and open windows accessed, etc.....
I have reported the incident to TVP via 101, so things are more or less
concluded; I think the camera will likely be a lost cause, but would urge any
residents to be aware that this Gang of Four might be in the locality and
looking for trouble or opportunities for theft.
The ironies of losing a 'security' device to opportunistic thieves are of
course many and multi-faceted......sigh......
Anyway, if you have down pipes that might be accessed by those with ill
intentions, please be warned!