St John’s School subjected to repeated vandalism since April

Date published: 20 June 2019

St John’s RC Primary School, Ann Street, Rochdale has been subjected to repeated vandalism since April this year and been broken into five times.

A spokesperson for the school said: “On a very regular basis a group of young people are targeting our school site and building outside of school hours and repeatedly causing malicious and deliberate damage and destruction. 

“These actions range from vandalism to breaking and entering and have escalated to a level where they pose a serious risk to the safety and security of the school community with broken windows, trashed classrooms etc. and the young people themselves.”

Sergeant Danny Shirazi of GMP’s Rochdale Division said: “It is devastating to see that St John’s RC Primary School has been repeatedly targeted in this way, and we fully understand this may have caused concern within the community.

“We want to reassure the community that our local policing team are working with the school to prevent further offences from taking place and we are exploring options to support the school through the Community Safety Partnership.

“Ensuring that our community feels safe and secure is absolutely paramount for us and we will be continuing to patrol the area throughout all times of the day as we look to crackdown on these types of incidents. We would like to urge anyone with information in relation to these incidents to get in touch via 0161 856 8549.

“If you notice anything suspicious then please get in touch via the LiveChat function on our website or by dialling 101. Always call 999 in an emergency.”

A spokesperson for Rochdale Council said: “As soon as the school raised their concerns with us, we provided them with advice and reassurances around additional and existing security measures and CCTV.

“The police are working on this issue, reviewing CCTV and developing prevention measures.

“We would urge anyone in the community with information relating to this to contact the police.”