Thieves ransack Geddes Court and leave threatening messages

Shaken freshers have been targeted by twisted robbers in halls.

The criminals broke into private rooms, taking expensive items and leaving “sick notes” for the distraught students.

One of the notes left for a female student warned “we’ll be back for your neck”, but no items were taken from her room.

The terrified fresher has since moved on to another floor in the halls.

Fearful freshers have moved rooms

Business and Law student Tia Tolonen first noticed something was amiss when she couldn’t get her door open and had to force it.

“I tried my key and it got stuck, and I thought that just doesn’t happen like that.

“I knew someone had been trying to get in.” Luckily, the new student did not have anything stolen.

Some of her flatmates were not so lucky, and when the police arrived to investigate a laptop missing from one of the rooms, they noticed another door open.

Tia said: “She never leaves her door open. So we went in her room and her window was wide open. We called her and told her, we think someone has been in your room.”

That’s when the threatening notes were discovered. “She was crying when I saw her. The same day she moved rooms.”

Other notes left in the affected rooms taunted the residents, with one saying: “hahaha we have your X-Box”.

Some students noticed that their doors had been forced open over the weekend, while others found their ground floor windows wide open.

It is thought the rooms were burgled over the weekend of the 24th of October, right at the beginning of the reading week, when students were likely to be at home.

On the afternoon of the 27th porters at the hall went round all the rooms checking that students had locked their doors due to a “security issue.”

But worried students were not informed of the break-ins until they received an email two days later.

The email told of how some of the missing items, which included a laptop and an X-Box, were later found hidden around communal areas of Geddes.

Whether or not the incident was just a bad prank gone wrong, many students have been left shaken at the news.

One resident Megan Thomson said: “It does unnerve you a bit. I mean, you’re friends with all these people, you trust them. You should be able to wander to your kitchen without worrying about your laptop going mising.”

The police have been involved since the items were reported missing.

Journalism student Aimée Bernadette lives in the kitchen effected by the crimes, but did not have her room broken in to.

She said: “The university staff have been great, they’ve kept us updated and are constantly in contact with us.

“They are doing their best to help us. We were all very worried when it happened, but we’re starting to calm down about it now.”

A police spokesperson said:  “Police in Stirling are investigating following a housebreaking at Geddes Court, Stirling University which occurred between October 24-27.  Enquiries are ongoing and any one with information regarding this incident should contact Police Scotland immediately on 101.”