CSI Wahoo

Disgruntled Wahoo-goers have fallen victim to a spate of thefts as police warn pick-pocketing in Oxford clubs is on the rise.

As four unlucky students queued for Playtime last Friday, thieves took advantage of them, taking phones and purses from their bags.

Wahoo… ‘an issue with bag theft’

Speaking to The Tab, witnesses described two suspicious-looking men reaching into women’s handbags, lucky-dip style, before door staff were alerted and contacted the police.

No stolen property was found on them, but they were escorted to the train station and booted out of the city.

However, for third year Worcesterite, Alice Redfern, it wasn’t all bad: “After blocking my phone, I decided I’d make the most of the night, since the manager gave us free entry plus his business cards so we can be VIP on any future Friday at Wahoo.

“Luckily I had insurance and a new phone within 12 hours. In the phone shop, the guy I was speaking to said that he’d been dealing with customers who’d lost phones in the same queue all week.”

Wahoo manager, Pete Mortimore, told The Tab: “We admit there’s an issue with bag theft. There has been for a long time now. Short of patrolling the street outside – which we currently do – there is not much that can be done except for raising awareness among club-goers.

“We called the police as soon thefts were reported on Friday night and, although we did not find the perpetrators, we later found a mobile phone which had been stashed away. That has been taken by the police for finger-printing. This is an Oxford-wide problem, and 8 months ago we succeeded in having a ring of bag-thieves arrested, with help from the bouncers of the Bridge Nightclub.”