Burglars strike at home for elderly

ELDERLY residents at a care home have been left without hot water for three days after thieves broke in and stole copper pipes from a boiler house.

 
The thieves ripped out two large copper pipes, leaving water gushing from the boiler system at Southlands Residential Home in Withins Lane, Breightmet, in the early hours of yesterday.
 
Now the home’s 27 residents, who are aged 85 to 101, will be unable to have baths until the system is repaired.
 
Many of the people who live at the home are too frail to wash themselves and are usually bathed by staff every other day.
 
Staff now have to fill up bowls of hot water from the kitchen, which runs on a separate boiler.
 
The stolen copper will probably be sold for scrap for a fraction of the £5,000 of damage caused to the care home’s hot water system.
 
Staff at the home discovered there was no hot water at about 5am.
 
Manager Jane Stott said: “You couldn’t print what I think of these people.
 
They’re the lowest of the low. At the end of the day, they know what this establishment is and they don’t seem to have a conscience.
 
“We haven’t told the residents because it would upset them, but the relatives know and obviously they’re appalled.
 
“They got in by unscrewing the doors, so they’ve obviously come equipped and you don’t know if they’ve been watching us.
 
“It makes you feel very uncomfortable.”
 
The home has installed extra security measures since the theft and police have agreed to watch the building overnight to reassure staff.
 
A police spokesman said: “Police were called to Southlands Care Home after reports of a break in at 10am on Monday.
 
“Officers discovered there had been a burglary sometime after 5am and a quantity of copper piping had been stolen.
 
“Inquiries are ongoing.”
 
Metal theft, particularly copper and lead, has been an increasing problem in Bolton and across the UK over the past few years as thieves attempt to cash in on high global metal prices driven by demand in China.
 
Police in Bolton have been cracking down on the problem over the past few months and say they have reduced metal thefts by more than 50 per cent since the operation was launched in June.
 
There were 119 recorded metal thefts in Bolton in April, but only 58 in August.
 
Police are visiting scrap dealers to make sure they keep detailed records and carrying out stop checks on vehicles carrying scrap and waste.
 
Officers have also paid visits to known thieves who have been caught stealing metal and are promoting security measures such as smart water to make stolen metal easier to trace.
 
Article from Bolton News:
http://www.theboltonnews.co.uk/news/9260172.Burglars_strike_at_home_for_elderly/
 
Added 21st September, 2011