Bike thieves leave school devastated

SEEKING INFORMATION: School helper Jonathan "JT" Tau and teacher Rebecca Croucher with bikes identical to those stolen from Kaikohe East School on Tuesday night. PHOTO / PETER DE GRAAF

The children at a Northland school didn't even have a chance to ride their new bikes before they were stolen.

Five brand-new bicycles were stolen from Kaikohe East School around 7pm on Tuesday. Teacher Rebecca Croucher, who is driving the school's cycling project, said the theft was ''devastating''.

''It's been nine months in the planning and it's taken so long to get the bikes. We had them five days and now they're gone.''

School helper Jonathan ''JT'' Tau spent the weekend assembling the brand-new bikes, which were stored in a shipping container at the far end of the school grounds. Ironically, the container was to have been moved closer to the school on the day of the theft but the ground was too wet for the truck.

Mr Tau was alerted by builders working at the school on Tuesday evening, arriving to find the container padlock had been broken. He tried following the thieves' trails through the scrub but without success.

The school still has 40 bicycles left and hopes eventually to have 60 so two classes can use the school's cycle trail at once. The trail is being built on vacant land at the rear of the Mangakahia Rd school and is due to open in early November.

Mrs Croucher said money for the bikes had been raised by school galas and a grant from the Oxford Sports Trust. BikeOn Charitable Trust had donated cash and 100 helmets and Hauora Whanui had pledged more bikes.

All the stolen bikes are of the Radius brand. Three are blue with Primo AL on the crossbar and 20-inch wheels. The other two are green and silver with 24-inch wheels. Call Kaikohe police on (09) 405 2960 with any information or Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111.