 The number of assaults at Kingston University has increased by 150 per cent in the past three years according to new figures from Kingston Police.
The data, obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, showed that assaults recorded on university premises rose from six in 2006 to 15 in the first ten months of 2008. In contrast, assaults in the rest of Kingston fell by 43 per cent.
While the police refused to comment, Dr Glyn Jones, Head of Student Affairs, played down the trend: “With more than 21,000 students the figures still represent a very small percentage of students at Kingston. We work very closely with the police and hold monthly meetings with the local officers, and the Students’ Union to identify if there are any particular crime-trends which we need to target.”
Seething Wells Halls of Residence saw the biggest rise in overall crime, from nine to 17 incidents, with burglary, theft from dwellings and assaults all increasing. One Seething Wells resident experienced crime first-hand: “We had someone break into the kitchen on the ground floor. They took food, cooked in the kitchen and messed it up.” The student, who did not want to be named, said the police wrote to her friend asking her to make a formal statement at the police station, but she was “too scared”. Dr Jones said there had been a problem with students not reporting crime, and encouraged any victims to tell the police and university authorities. First year Seething Wells resident Emma Wickham was surprised by the figures and praised security staff, but said she had heard of an assault and drug dealing. Another student had seen “blood everywhere” after an assault there a month ago. Councillor Liz Green, whose St Mark's ward includes Seething Wells, said it was the first time she had heard about crime there going up, and said she would contact the local Safer Neighbourhood policing team to ensure they included the site in their patrols. However, another trend saw theft at the university fall by 52 per cent. The Head of Student affairs said the University had “given out notices making students aware of not leaving their belongings unattended in the library. This followed a number of laptop thefts in the Learning Resource Centres.”
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