RAMPAGE OUTRAGE
Primary school trashed by thugs who snacked on jelly & ice cream
MINDLESS brutes wreaked havoc on every room in a school – while snacking on treats.
Our pictures show the senseless damage carried out by teenage thugs who rampaged through Gowanbank Primary – pausing only for jelly and ice cream.
The gang of teenagers stole nothing but left a devastating trail of destruction for teaching staff to find.
While causing £10,000 of damage to the Nitshill primary, they raided the school’s kitchen for snacks and took a break to eat ice cream, jelly and make popcorn.
Head teacher John Daly said: “It looks like a bomb has gone off.
“Nothing was stolen, everything was just trashed.
“It was nothing but wanton vandalism and it is very deflating.
“It may only be a building but this completely takes away from providing our children with a safe and protective learning environment.
“It feels awful that our personal space has been invaded.”
Thugs took their time over their campaign of carnage, targeting every single room in the school.
Every computer monitor in the school was either smashed entirely or scratched beyond use.
Smart boards were pulled from walls and white boards – including in an infant class – had obscenities drawn on them.
Cupboard doors were pulled from their hinges and all crockery throughout the school was shattered.
The staffroom was wrecked with two microwaves used to make popcorn before being smashed. Fire extinguishers were let off and wheeled office chairs used as dodgems to careen up and down hallways.
Mr Daly’s office was trashed and personal items broken.
In the infants rooms, wash hand basins were smashed and resources such as crayons and paper were strewn across the floor.
The alarm was raised by janitor Irene Wilson who happened to be passing the primary and heard noises from inside.
Mr Daly added: “I am trying to make sure the school’s IT equipment is replaced because we can’t function without it and I plan to get new crayons and drawing equipment for the children.
“Although the crayons are still there, I don’t want them in the children’s hands as we don’t know what they have been used for or where they have been.
“It’s my job, and the job of my deputy, to minimise the impact on children. One silver lining is that there are still a couple of weeks before school goes back so we will be able to get the place back up and running.”
Gowanbank, which has previously been targeted and as recently as last week, is one of five primaries to be vandalised during the holidays.
Liz Cameron, executive member for children, young people and lifelong learning, was close to tears of frustration as she spoke about the damage inflicted on Gowanbank.
She said: “Our schools work towards the fulfilment of our children’s dreams and this sort of mindless
damage is treading on their dreams.
“The respect for education shown by these – let’s be blunt – thugs is nil.
“I’m saying to everybody in the community – our schools are there for your children and your grandchildren and it is the responsibility of everyone in the community to look after them.
“Our schools are the most treasured thing in our city and we all must protect them.
“It is soul destroying. Our schools are beacons of light in what is a very troubled world and they must be treated as such.
“We have the city’s children during the day and we instil values and citizenship in them – but we can not do that alone.
“We need parents and community members to reinforce those values.”
Ms Cameron said she would be working with Community Safety Glasgow to ask them to up their patrols and help develop a strategy to protect schools.
But she said she would try at all costs to avoid sending schools into lock down.
Ms Cameron added: “If these young people want to get into our schools then they will.
“But do I want our schools locked up against everything our community does in them? Absolutely not.
“People need to ask themselves, ‘What would a good citizen do?’ And there may be some reluctance in calling the police but they must call the police – and keep calling them.”