Yahoo News Furious dad's warning after son's car stolen from uni car park on first day of degree course
A man has issued a warning after balaclava-clad thieves stole his son's car from a university car park on his induction day.
Robert Bridgett's car was taken from the Mercuria car park off Woodlands Road on Monday, September 16 - his first day of an engineering degree course at Teesside University. Cleveland Police confirmed the incident was reported to them and CCTV footage has been passed on to the investigating team.
The student's father, also called Robert, was incensed by the theft, describing the culprits as "rats", and told Teesside Live his son was left "devastated". Sentimental items which belonged to the student's late grandmother were kept in the boot of the car along with motorcycling gear worth around £1,000.
READ MORE: Couple camped out for days cooking sausages on BBQ in desperate bid to lure back treasured pet
"Balaclava-clad thugs rode in to a university car park for which he purchased a permit and stole his car in broad daylight," said Mr Bridgett senior.
The dad-of-three, who is a magistrate at South Durham Magistrates' Court and lives in Bishop Auckland, said he finds it "unbelievable" that the thieves, who were caught on CCTV stealing the car, were riding around the car park unchallenged. "These rats turned up on electric bikes wearing balaclavas and nobody stops them?", he said.
"It's a disgrace." Had he seen the thieves trying to steal his son's car, "I would have necked them," he added.
"I have never been in trouble in my life but if somebody hurts your bairn it's in a different league. Last night I drove out to South Bank to try to find it and if I had I would have gone and taken the car off them."
Mr Bridgett said he bought the 2013 reg, red Ford Fiesta ST for his son three years ago for £8,000. Personal items which belonged to his mother were kept in the boot.
His son, who works at Durham University and is starting a degree course in engineering at Teesside, left his vehicle at about 9am and found it had gone on returning to the car park at around 4pm. "He's in tears because my mum passed three years in July when she was 85," he said.
"She was gorgeous and a salt-of-the-earth type and her scarf and hat was in the boot of the car." Mr Bridgett senior said he has made a complaint to the university and warned other students to be on their guard.
A university spokesperson said: "Teesside University places the safety and wellbeing of our students as its highest priority and have stringent security measures in place across our campus. Unfortunately, following a report from the victim, security staff were made aware of a theft of a vehicle from one of our car parks on Monday afternoon.
"Our security team were able to retrieve CCTV evidence of the crime being committed and are co-operating with the police on this matter. They also worked with the victim to ensure he was able to return home safely.”
Cleveland Police are investigating the incident. Anyone with information should call 101 or contact them online via this website: Contact us | Cleveland Police. Alternatively, information can be passed on anonymously to www.crimestoppers-uk.org or phone them on 0800 555111.
For breaking news in your area direct to your inbox every day, go here to sign up to our free newsletter
