Shock spate of phone thefts across Cambridge libraries – could you be next?

They came. They saw. They hustled

| UPDATED Phones Seeley sps Theft

Students have been warned to watch their possessions and be wary of strangers after a spate of phone thefts from Cambridge libraries.

One of the first crimes took place in the SPS library in the centre of town early yesterday.

The victim, who did not wish to be named, said the thief used a purple leaflet to obscure the phone from view while they asked a question about a “chocolate reference number” as a distraction.

It’s basically Downtown Detroit

From this, we can glean three things: first, the question ‘what the fuck is a chocolate reference number?’

Second, never trust anyone who asks you a question in a library.

Third, don’t leave your phone on the table when there are purple leaflet-bearing folk around.

A foolish mistake

Library staff failed to apprehend the thief (I don’t know what they planned to do if they had caught him, maybe throw a book at him?), but the victim tells The Tab that he was in his mid-twenties, of Asian decent and spoke poor English (though this may have been a ruse).

Ivana Chilvers, Library Manager at SPS, assures The Tab that leaflets and informative posters have been distributed, the police have been informed and students have been advised to stop being so bloody blasé with their possessions.

Keep it secret, keep it safe!

Seriously though, two or three mobile phones a day end up in library lost property, and thats just in SPS.

I spoke to students outside the Seeley Historicals Library, which has also seen two thefts in the last week, to see how they felt.

One Historian from Kings was thoroughly distressed:  “I shake with terror every time I go near the library – the thief could be any one of us.”

Liam Donnelly from Queens’ expressed a strong resentment for this intrusion on his ‘safe space’: “I’m never working again.

It could be anyone in here…

So be vigilant, be aware, and be safe, because those thieves could get your phone and send nasty texts to your mum.