A group of ski mask-clad young people broke into Gonville & Caius College’s St Michael’s accommodation block on Sunday (23/03). The accommodation (nicknamed “Mike’s”) is located directly opposite the College’s main entrance and is currently undergoing construction works.

One Mike’s resident told Varsity that four people in their early teens, all of whom were dressed in all-black and were donning “ski masks,” broke into Mike’s main court and proceeded to enter the building site. While looking through the building site, the student said the group found a knife which they “picked up and dropped outside of G staircase” before entering the building.

The group then reportedly “went up all the stairs and managed to get out onto the roof” before appearing to leave “via the scaffolding down onto Rose Crescent”.

The witness said: “The kids themselves are likely harmless, but it proves a point that, with all the building equipment left out and students around, better security is needed,” adding that it is possible that information could be “getting into more dangerous circles”.

Another student said they witnessed the group “yelling and throwing stuff about,” and noticed that they quickly “scrambled” away when the porters arrived.

One student noted that the door to G staircase, outside of which the group left the knife from the building site, locks “inconsistently”. They added that G & H staircases are connected by a corridor, meaning “there was very much the potential for [the group] to have crossed over into both sides of the building”.

The same student, a resident of H staircase, described the experience of watching the intruders break into Mikes as “surreal”, adding: “There was a real sense of hysteria and unease – they were an obviously foreboding presence, but kept slipping out of sight around the construction and the building itself so it was hard to keep track of their movements.”

The student said that, on Monday morning, the builders appeared to be replacing the temporary gate which was installed between Mike’s and the Market Square as part of the ongoing construction works taking place on the accommodation block.

Sources say that the porters called the police in response to the incidents, though they were told that the police were unable to take any action. Trespassing is not a criminal offence in English law.

Police advice is that, in cases of trespassing, the landowner should initially “ask the trespasser to leave the land”. In the case that the trespasser refuses to leave the land, the landowner should “consider taking civil action”. If a landowner is to try and forcibly remove the trespasser, they could be found to have committed “several criminal offences”.

This comes after the porters were called to a similar incident on Friday evening, when a group broke into Caius’ central accommodation and moved between blocks.

Domestic Bursar Karen Ball sent G&H residents an email on Tuesday (25/03) acknowledging the concern caused by the break-in, thanking students who alerted the porters and those who wrote to the College “with their experiences”.

She wrote: “I acknowledge that this should not have happened, and we take matters of safety and security very seriously.” The email continued: “Unfortunately, as beautiful as Cambridge is, criminal elements exist in here as they do everywhere and occasionally they make their presence felt.”

Following a meeting with the Head Porter and the Site Supervisor from the main contractor, Ball explained that some measures had been agreed “to enhance the security of the site,” including the reinstalling of the original iron gates that back onto Market Square. She added that steps had been taken with the contractor “to secure the top and bottom of both A-F and G & H”.

A Gonville & Caius College spokesperson said: “This is a distressing incident and prompted calls to the police. Security measures have been enhanced in collaboration with the contractors on site to minimise the vulnerabilities which resulted in the trespassing into College property.”

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