Thieves try distraction burglary on students

A man tried to befriend a house of students so his accomplices could steal from them.

Opportunistic thieves attempted to make friends with a tenant at a house in Fallowfield, so they could clear out the house of valuables last month.

With there being 115 burglaries in Fallowfield in September alone, students are an attractive target to thieves, who have been finding new and innovative ways to catch students.

The recent tactic, which has been attempted on at least three occasions in the Fallowfield area, saw the occupants of a house on Granville Road confronted in the early hours of the morning with a man thought to be in his early twenties. He peered his head through the back door of the house and asked how the occupants’ night was going. After a few minutes of small chat, some of the house members realised something was wrong.

They ushered the man outside, where they found seven men around the back of the house.

The students managed to persuade the uninvited visitors to leave.

Their demeanor and attitude led the students to suspect the their intentions were to distract them in their kitchen while their rooms burgled.

Tom Harvey-Smith, who lives in the house, said, “Their intentions were definitely to tag onto a house mate who would be more inclined to allow them back into the house.”

Student Tom also said in the short period of time the man was in the house two Playstation 3 controllers went missing.

While not definitive proof of a burglary, it is evidence that thieves might not wait for students to leave their house. The Mancunion reported an incident on October 6th where a burglar locked himself in a bedroom of a house while some of the tenants were inside.