Prolific milk thieves caught on CCTV swiping crates from Upper Holloway primary school
The thieves have been stealing the milk 'for a long time', said headteacher Barry O'Shea. Picture: Duncombe Primary School - Credit: Archant
Thirsty thieves who have been stealing school milk from the mouths of young children in Upper Holloway have been captured on CCTV for the first time.
CCTV images caught thieves stealing milk from Duncombe Primary School in Sussex Way. Picture: Duncombe Primary School - Credit: Archant
Duncombe Primary School has its milk delivered at about 1am in the morning but quite often it’s gone before the morning bell rings.
Recently the Sussex Way school replaced its CCTV camera – which had been broken by the thieves some time ago – and in the early hours of October 20 it caught them swiping two crates meant for the youngest children at the school.
“It’s been happening for a long time,” headteacher Barrie O’Shea told the Gazette. “This is not a one-off.
“It sounds ridiculous but we can’t leave the school gate open so we’ve got one of those cages they deliver food in at supermarkets and padlocked it to our fence. Only the milkman knows the combination for the lock.”
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The footage has been handed to police but Mr O’Shea believes it is too difficult to identify the semi-skimmed swindlers.
He added: “If they are that desperate for milk we would give them some. We’ve been doing collections for Islington Food Bank for harvest and we’ve got four cars’ worth to take over. We’re very much a giving school.”
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Mr O’Shea said Duncombe had some of the highest free school milk numbers in the borough and said sometimes all four crates were being taken by thieves.
