Three teenagers have been arrested after a youth centre was repeatedly broken into and vandalised. Officers were called to the Phoenix Adventure Playground in Broxtowe twice in the space of five days following separate reports of break-ins.
CCTV showed a group of people smashing a rear window and flipping over a pool table before causing further damage inside and fleeing the scene. Following that first incident at around 7.25pm on July 21, 2022, the Westleigh Road Centre was then targeted a second time days later, at around 6pm on July 25.
Several electrical items were taken from inside, including a television and games console. Following an investigation led by the city west neighbourhood policing team, three boys, aged 15, 15 and 13, were arrested on suspicion of burglary.
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All three have been released on conditional bail, while some of the stolen property has since been recovered. Three further juveniles also attended Broxtowe Police Station where they were voluntarily interviewed in the presence of their legal guardians.
Neighbourhood Inspector for city west Gordon Fenwick said: “It really should go without saying but the recent break-ins at the Phoenix Adventure Playground were completely unacceptable. This centre plays a major role within our local community, so it is saddening to see it mindlessly targeted in this way.
“In addition to taking a number of different items, considerable damage was also caused to the inside of the youth centre. Thankfully, we have been able to recover and return some of the items, following an investigation led by the city west neighbourhood policing team.
“Burglary is an extremely serious offence that will never be tolerated by Nottinghamshire Police and will always end in positive action being taken. We hope that the three arrests we’ve made serve as a reminder to anyone else thinking of acting in this manner of how seriously we take this type of behaviour."
Cllr Neghat Khan, Nottingham City Council’s Portfolio Holder for Neighbourhoods, Safety and Inclusion, said: “It extremely sad that an asset which benefits local people has been targeted for theft and mindless vandalism. Hopefully the swift action taken by Nottinghamshire Police will send a clear message that this kind of behaviour will not be tolerated in our communities.”
Anyone who has any information is urged to contact the police on 101, quoting 2611787 for the 21 July incident and 2626960 for the 25 July incident.
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