Bay of Plenty Times
  • Bay of Plenty Times home
  • Latest news
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Sport
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
  • Sport

Locations

  • Coromandel & Hauraki
  • Katikati
  • Tauranga
  • Mount Maunganui
  • Pāpāmoa
  • Te Puke
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • Thames
  • Tauranga
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Bay of Plenty Times

Burglars hit six Bay schools

By Genevieve Helliwell
Bay of Plenty Times·
6 Mar, 2013 08:46 PM3 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Night-time burglars have stolen computers and other electronic equipment from six Bay schools.

They struck Selwyn Ridge, Omanu Primary, Te Akau Ki Papamoa, Otumoetai Intermediate, Tauranga Intermediate and Mount Maunganui Intermediate in the past two weeks. Some schools have been hit twice.

Security camera footage captured images of two men breaking into Otumoetai Intermediate school three times and stealing five iMac computers.

On Monday, they raided the school at 6.20am and took four computers from the school's graphics suite.

That raid followed one on February 26 about 9pm when they snatched one computer from a classroom. CCTV footage showed the two men returning to the school about eight hours later but it did not appear they took anything, police said.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Otumoetai deputy principal John Stanley said the thieves used some type of pry bar to force open the classroom door.



"This is hugely upsetting," he told the Bay of Plenty Times.

"It's not just the loss of the computers, it's the time spent and cost to replace the damaged locks and equipment. It will impact on what we can offer kids and their learning."

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Thieves struck Selwyn Ridge Primary School and stole iMac computers on February 28 despite the school having a security system. Principal Craig Price said each computer was worth about $1500 when bought 18 months ago. The thefts disrupted school learning and it had been "an invasion on the kids' learning space".

St Mary's School, which has not been burgled, is considering installing security cameras. Detective Sergeant Alan Kingsbury said it was possible the burglaries were linked.

"Police are asking people living near schools to be extra vigilant and aware and call police if they see anything suspicious or if they're aware of people trying to offload electronic goods."

Student leader tells heartless thieves to get a clue


Pick on someone your own size.

That's the message Otumoetai Intermediate student leader Ashleigh Cornwell has for burglars who raided her school.

The graphics classroom's back wall is filled with holes where four iMac computers used to sit.

Ashleigh is angry at the thieves who stole from her and other children at the school.

"Schools are for education and if things like computers are stolen it's not going to help student learning," she said.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"I think they should back down and pick on someone their own size."

The computers were marked by SelectaDNA, which identified them as school property.

When thieves hit


  • Selwyn Ridge: February 21

  • Omanu Primary: February 22

  • Selwyn Ridge: February 22-24

  • Te Akau Ki Papamoa: February 25

  • Otumoetai Intermediate: February 25

  • Tauranga Intermediate: February 25

  • Otumoetai Intermediate: March 4

  • Omanu Primary: March 4

  • Mount Maunganui Intermediate: March 4
Save

    Share this article

Latest from Bay of Plenty Times

Bay of Plenty Times

New sculpture for Tauranga: Artist chosen for bold six-figure CBD artwork

08 Jul 06:00 PM
Bay of Plenty Times

'It was unreal': Orca pod amazes Tauranga jetskier near Whangamatā

08 Jul 04:03 AM
Bay of Plenty Times

BoP shooting happened at 'private dwelling', suspect still wanted

08 Jul 01:36 AM

From early mornings to easy living

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Bay of Plenty Times

New sculpture for Tauranga: Artist chosen for bold six-figure CBD artwork

New sculpture for Tauranga: Artist chosen for bold six-figure CBD artwork

08 Jul 06:00 PM

Paul Darragh's piece comes after 7m steel sculpture installed in Red Square last year.

'It was unreal': Orca pod amazes Tauranga jetskier near Whangamatā

'It was unreal': Orca pod amazes Tauranga jetskier near Whangamatā

08 Jul 04:03 AM
BoP shooting happened at 'private dwelling', suspect still wanted

BoP shooting happened at 'private dwelling', suspect still wanted

08 Jul 01:36 AM
Boat in perilous position in Tauranga Harbour

Boat in perilous position in Tauranga Harbour

08 Jul 01:04 AM
Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Bay of Plenty Times e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Bay of Plenty Times
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP