Vandals smash up community hall in "utterly senseless" overnight raid

The Weston Community Hall on the Isle was smashed into between 9.30pm last night and 7.30am this morning. Thieves smashed through a window into the kitchen, used a fire extinguisher to ram through fire doors into the Jumping Beans Pre School section of the building and then used a breeze block to batter through a second fire door into the manager’s office.

The thieves pulled craft and sporting equipment belonging to the Guides and Scouts out of the cupboards and dumped it on the floor – in some places the stuff was four feet deep.

The hall is used primarily by the Guide and Scout groups in the isle and By Jumping Beans Pre School.

Manager of the pre-school Julie Poulton said: “This isn’t just a break in, everything is inside out. It’s your worst nightmare.

“They have emptied the biscuits out on the floor and the wet wipes. It’s unbelievable.

“This is a school – why would they do it?”

Laptops, an iPad and internet dongle have all been stolen from the pre-school, but Mrs Poulton said that no sensitive information was kept on there and so there was no safeguarding or security issues.

She added that the community hall team had pulled together to clean up the mess. Unfortuantely due to the damage the pre-school will be closed tomorrow. It will re-open on Monday.

She said: “We have a fantastic team here. The Scouts and Guides and the community hall. We are working together as a team to make the building as safe and secure.”

Vice chairman of the community hall, Rachel Saunders, also runs the Rainbows, Guides and Portland senior section.

She said it was the third incident in 18 months after thieves’ stolen lead from the roof in summer 2014 and broke into the hall just before Christmas 2014.

She said it was “frustrating” as every time they did some fundraising to update the hall, they got broken into and had to spend the money to repair the damage.

She said: “We have been trying to save up to get new windows and there’s a damp problem in the wall. Then this happens.

“It’s disheartening. I’m angry. The damage is utterly senseless.”

She added that the hall was a real community hub and urged anyone with information about the break-in to call Dorset police.

She said: “This is a community hall for people on Portland. We just want to keep it going for them.”

Dorset Police said the break in occurred between 9.30pm on Wednesday and 7.30am on Thursday. A spokesman said: “Items were stolen and the whole interior was trashed. “Officers would very much like to apprehend the offenders, so if you have any information or saw anything suspicious in the area at the relevant times please contact us on 101 or call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.”

The community hall team would like to thank volunteers from the Shed Men who came down and helped secure the back door and Dorset Sparkies, who arrived and fitted a new security system free of charge.

Mrs Saunders said they would like to thank them for their help and said they had been "wonderful."

Unfortunately, due to the break-in the pre-school will be closed tomorrow but will re-open on Monday. Tonight's Rainbows group has also had to be cancelled. You check the Weston Community Hall Facebook page for updates. Click here to visit the site.