Hole-in-the-wall gang ransack people’s centre
DIMINUTIVE burglars broke into a community centre after smashing a 30cm wide hole in the wall.
The thieves caused thousands of pounds worth of damage after ransacking Wardleworth Community Centre in Rochdale town centre.
They also made off with IT equipment and petty cash after removing an extractor fan in the ladies toilets and squeezing through the tiny gap.
The break-in at the South Street facility is thought to have taken place in the early hours of Tuesday, September 17.
Centre manager Mohammed Miah said: “When I walked in the building I couldn’t work out how they’d broken in. I couldn’t find the entry point.
“It was all shuttered up and the doors were locked. I was like ‘What the hell?.’ I was thinking has someone got hold of a key? But then I saw some debris on the floor in the ladies toilet and then I saw the hole.
“There’s an extractor fan on the wall in there and they’ve smashed that and got in through the hole. It’s only about 30-40cm square.
“On the CCTV they looked like small built guys - they’ve probably just managed to squeeze through.
“But because they’ve had to go the same way out they’ve obviously not been able to take much with them.”
A PlayStation and a number of iPads were among the items stolen, while filing cabinets and fire doors were badly damaged during the raid.
Mohammed, who has run the centre for almost five years, fears the cost of repairs and replacing the stolen equipment will run into thousands of pounds.
He said: “They’re just absolute scumbags. We’re a community centre working for the community.
“The people who did this are probably from the same community. It just doesn’t make sense.”
With three part-time staff, Mohammed, 45, said the centre acts as a community hub for the people of the area, providing advice and information as well as classes and youth clubs. He added: “We are a small charity organisation and this sort of thing will cost us money. It’s very hard to believe what’s happened. It’s very shocking.
“We hope to get it back open and running this week but it’s a mess. We already struggle with finance because we were funded by the local authority but that has been cut by 50 per cent this year. We are always struggling with resources so this does not help.”