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| Police alert as burglars target
upmarket streets |
Drug addicts blamed for spate of
break-ins and thefts from cars
DETECTIVES are investigating a series of burglaries in and around
one of Camden Town’s most exclusive streets.
Up to 20 break-ins in Albert Street and neighbouring Mornington
Street, Terrace and Crescent, and as many smash-and-grab raids on
parked cars in a month have led police to write to householders
warning them to stay alert.
Drug addicts stealing to feed their habit are believed to be behind
the crimewave, which has been marked by opportunism and many more
amateurish, failed burglaries than successful ones.
Homeowners as old as 92 and as young as 23 have been targeted.
The crimewave continued this weekend but is believed to have peaked
on November 15, the night pop star Madonna launched her latest album
at Koko nightclub on the edge of the affected area.
At least four paparazzi are understood to have had cars broken into
and laptop computers stolen in the leafy back streets while they
snapped celebrities, including Bob Geldof and Stella McCartney,
arriving.
Five break-ins and attempted burglaries at flats in Albert Street
and Mornington Crescent coincided with the gig, with laptops and
cash again targeted.
In the most recent raid, in Albert Street on Saturday, burglars
escaped with an Xbox games console and DVDs. Victim Oliver Curlett,
23, a property developer, said: “Nobody was home but we’ve
now got extra locks on the window, which means they won’t be
getting in again.
“The police came within half an hour, and they’ve done
all the fingerprinting.”
Neighbour Luca Turin, who witnessed the burglars leaving and who
had a spare wheel stolen from his parked car this week, said: “They
were a scrappy type – drug addicts probably.
“But Camden is full of scuzzies, druggies and weirdos. I’m
surprised there aren’t more burglaries.”
A 92-year-old woman had her Mornington Crescent home burgled while
she watched TV in her sitting room on December 1.
She confronted two men in her kitchen who told her they had followed
burglars in through a window to protect her, but they ran off before
they could take anything when she screamed for help.
Katy Hapgood, a 19-year-old student who lives in Albert Street,
said: “My mum saw our neighbours’ robbed – they were
hooded youths. It’s alarming.”
A police spokesman said: “Many of the break-ins were opportunist.
“We have written to residents giving them crime prevention
advice and the level of crime does seem to have fallen since.” |
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