‘Shock’ over school attack

ERIN PEARSON
A WEEKEND sleepover ended with four teenage boys causing thousands of dollars damage to a Torquay school, according to police.
Torquay Detective Sergeant Craig Blunt alleged the 14-year-olds smashed their way through St Therese Primary School around midnight Saturday, leaving a $15,000 damage bill.
They also left with $20,000 worth of goods, he said.
“The boys broke into five classrooms, causing considerable damage before stealing 16 laptop computers and other items,” Det Sgt Blunt said.
“All items were recovered the next day.”
Det Sgt Blunt said police spoke to the teenagers the night before after finding them wandering the area.
“People need to be aware that (police) down here…know what’s going on, do know who’s hanging around and will jump on it straight away.”
Det Sgt Blunt said police charged the boys on summons with burglary, theft and criminal damage to appear in the Children’s Court at a later date.
St Therese principal Pauline Audley said the school was shocked.
“Our pride turned to shock and then disappointment as we saw the damage caused to our school over the weekend.”
Ms Audley said the work of staff on Sunday to clean up the damage and police’s retrieval of the stolen goods allowed the school to reopen on Monday without disruption.