In the last month alone numerous reports of damage, break-ins and theft have been reported. I sat down with Local musician, promoter and Falmouth student Milo Gore, whose band’s van was broken into and music equipment stolen.
“We realised at about 1pm when we went outside and noticed the side door was kind of open. We looked in and they’d taken a bass guitar, two guitars and snare drum… oh and some money and a car speaker,” said Gore, who went on to explain how he didn’t even have time to call the police straight away as they were already late for a house viewing.
“Not long after calling the police to report it, we found a post from Falmouth & Helston Police saying that two guitars had been found so we got into contact, after which we went down to the station and gave a statement,” Gore said.
While Falmouth is generally regarded as a calm, picturesque coastal town, local Police have noted “a spike in reported thefts from and damage to motor vehicles over the past 3 months.” The rise in this damaging behaviour coincides with the appearance of the apparent quasi-hate group “Falmouth Hates Students” or FHS for short.
They sent a letter to the Falmouth Packet detailing how “since the start of this year FHS has been damaged student property… and will continue to escalate this activity to the extent that no families will want to send young ones to Falmouth,” adding how they were “going to make Falmouth a no-go zone for students.”
Milo didn’t seem to think FHS were involved; a woman has since been arrested and much of the equipment recovered. Unfortunately, it is still being held in evidence, and a Fender Jaguar (RRP £1,500) is still missing; leaving the band without instruments. However, in true Falmouth fashion the people are coming together to do something incredible.
“Rhys Harrison who works at Jago’s Bar puts on a lot of gigs and without telling Kieran (owner of the Fender Jaguar), asked some of Falmouth’s most prominent bands such as Cpt. Prang and Swine to play at a gig where the proceeds would go towards money for a new guitar,” explained Gore; “[Keiran] only found out by being invited to the event on Facebook.”
Though the incident is being dealt with and slowly solved, the impact of such an event isn’t as easily solved; “I’m pretty nervous about leaving the van around now too,” explained Gore. “I’ve parked it round the back for now but it’s hard not to think about it when something like this has happened.”
In relation to the ongoing events, Inspector Ian Thompson said: “It is very important that we get a true picture of the problem so I urge people to report suspicious activity or offences to us by calling 101. In recent days, we’ve successfully identified some tangible leads that we’re prioritising in order to focus our attention on the offenders.”