Where do tent thieves come from?

[TheGreenDropsRule]

I’m sure lots of us have read the topic regarding the American couple having all their valuables stolen. One of the things briefly mentioned was people paying £200 for a ticket to come and rob tents.

So a couple of things I recently heard have me thinking and I was hoping for some thoughts from you guys and girls. Firstly a few weeks back I heard from a long time camp steward I work with that one of the main problems they have (in respect to tent thefts) is with groups of Eastern Europeans (I only mention their ethnicity as it may be relevant) getting in to the festival without paying. He hadn’t heard how they were managing this.

Secondly, a member of our group at the festival told me that some markets get people in for free by overstating their number of required workers. I don’t feel it’s a stereotype to think Eastern European migrant workers may well have connections to street markets, hence the possible relevance in mentioning ethnicity.

Now I don’t know how feasible it is for people to get in free like this and was hoping someone on here in the know could confirm or refute it. However if it is the case, is it not a real possibility that the two are linked, and can the festival not do more to prevent this?

PS Before anyone puts two and two together and is way off, I’m in no way suggesting certain ethnicities should be banned from working at the festival!

[gizmoman]

I don't know where they come from but if I had my way they'd go straight to the bottom of a long drop.

[ukslim]

I think it's worth speculating about people getting in by abusing the market staff allowances.

But I don't think it's necessary to link that to tent thieving.

If you're prepared to rob tents, then you can make up the cost of a ticket in no time.

If you're prepared to cheat your way into the festival, you could still be more interested in seeing stuff and having fun, than in stealing things from tents.

Of course there *could* be an overlap, simply because both activities show a poor moral compass.

I don't see where the Eastern European bit comes in, street markets to me conjure up a rich mixture of ethnicities.

[Buglet]

Blimey, you can't get much more authoritative than the racist theorising of a regular volunteer.

I can see what you mean though, it would be wrong to ban a group from working the festival bacause of their ancestral homeland, the buggers could still be sneaky and get in through other means. If they ever get the internet then there is a distinct possibility that they could, without declairing their evil foreign intentions, legitmately buy a ticket and mingle undetected with the decent God fearing aryan crowd.

May I suggest "random" DNA testing at entrance gates so that we can identify and deny access to all those whose racial and cultural profile suggests that they're a threat to our security and way of life.

It's good news in some ways though, I always presumed it was scousers and they're much harder to spot due to their inherent ability to mingle into the shaddows.

[LusciousLucy]

Dont start with the Scouse thing...

[Spindles]

Just....what?

Really?

People were getting ripped off at glastonbury when poland was behind the iron curtain. Get a grip.

I'd like to point out, for the record, that of the hundreds of eastern europeans I have met not one has been a thief, a rapist, an escaped murderer or a mafia boss.

It used to be the gypsies...

/me walks away.

[LusciousLucy]

I didnt hear one Eastern European accent all weekend.

[Toilet Duck]

Well, I was camped about 30ft from the fence, and there were trees right beside the fence on the outside(didn't think of it at the time, I was tired from trudging through the mud on wednesday morning and just plonked the tent down at the first free space I saw)...anyway, on thursday morning, security in our campsite were quite animated as people had been using ladders under cover of the trees to get over the fence and were robbing tents that way...one of the f*ckers fell off and landed quite nastily on the inner fence (serves him right!)...anyway, I reckon there are any number of ways thieves will try to get in to the festie...

[incident]

I think it's worth speculating about people getting in by abusing the market staff allowances.

[Buglet]

People were getting ripped off at glastonbury when poland was behind the iron curtain. Get a grip.

I'd like to point out, for the record, that of the hundreds of eastern europeans I have met not one has been a thief, a rapist, an escaped murderer or a mafia boss.

It used to be the gypsies...

[Yoghurt on a Stick]

Talk about tenuous connections! I don't think Sherlock Holmes is sh*tting his pants right now.

[MrZigster]

I think it's relevant to mention that I saw a Range Rover full of United Kingdom Border Agency officers on the Thursday morning. Making sure staff had the correct work permits I presumed.

[miniand]

Unfortunateley they come from where you are...

They also come from where everyone else is, to try and say they come from anywhere in particular isn't going to make decent people from that area very happy. There are scallies n thieves through out the whole of humanity. The burglars in liverpool must have a great time at glasto time tho as half of the city seems to be away for the week ;-)

[pman]

If you are the sort of person that enjoys festivals but also has no conscience when it comes to taking other peoples stuff then Glastonbury would be the perfect weekend. You have the time of your life, you have the perfect opportunities to acquire as much money, drugs, ,cameras etc as you can carry.

You would end up with a free festival plus loads of stuff to sell when you get home.

Also with it being so big the chances of you getting nicked by security or police is pretty slim.

[Tuska]

I didnt hear one Eastern European accent all weekend.

[Amii]

I don't know why the thread title reminds me of the tiger song in The Hangover.... "What do tigers dream of...."

Anyway, I didn't hear any eastern European accents. I don't like all this talk of accents, you really can't judge anyone by them. I'm probably classed as middle class (due to living at home with my parents) and I come from Hampshire, yet I have a thick scouse accent I've inherited from my Dad. Never lived there, and to my knowledge, I've never robbed anyone.

No matter what precautions the festival takes, someones going to get something nicked at some point, I think a lot of it's just opportunists.

[DpE]

One particular group of thieves had a very nasty shock at this festival, I will leave it at that

[TheGreenDropsRule]

Okay, despite my efforts, I obviously haven't worded myself carefully enough (i've never had a minus on a comment before!!). For the record, I am NOT racist. Actually it's one of the things I feel strongest about - I once almost ruined a family Christmas because of it!

UKSlim - Thanks for your response. In answer to your last paragraph, I think you sort of answered the link yourself. Street markets are indeed a multi-cultural environment and I love them for that. I would think it's a simple fact that there are a higher proportion of a great many ethnicities working there than many other forms of employment.

Buglet - It wasn't "racial theorising". It was a simple statement made from someone whose responsibilities at the festival entail dealing with tent thieves amongst other things. It was either the truth, or a lie. I haven't heard him say anything else like this before so am inclined to believe it. Of course I concede that he could have been making it up.

Lucy - Not really helpful given the direction I was clearly trying to avoid this heading in.

Incident - Thanks for that. If what you say is true then perhaps this method of free entry isn't very viable - my friend was possibly just repeating a rumour he'd heard

I hope people can appreciate more where I was coming from now - even though I don't know any of you, I certainly wouldn't want anyone thinking my statement was racially motivated in any way.

[Buglet]

I think it's relevant to mention that I saw a Range Rover full of United Kingdom Border Agency officers on the Thursday morning. Making sure staff had the correct work permits I presumed.

Edited June 29, 2011 by Buglet

[gizmoman]

One particular group of thieves had a very nasty shock at this festival, I will leave it at that

[richardwilson84]

Agreed.

Didn't hear that many northern accents either, compared to other years. Maybe i was just camped in the wrong place. I certainly stopped camping in Pennards years ago.

I think a 'professional' thief would think £200 a reasonable investment. I dont think the American couple's experience is random either. For someone to enter a tent, knowing its occupied, and be cool and calm enough to rummage through gear, then above all they are going to have to be SOBER and CLEAN.

I reckon they well case tents, observe movements, watch for heavy drinking and plan their robberies. They then stay up late, miss the music, dont drink and calmly fleece their target.

As said, its someones profession.

[DpE]

Did they squeal in any particular accent?

[justinj]

We were camped in Dairy and they had a huge problem with people jumping the fence. They said most were coming in, stealing from tents and then jumping back over the fence to get out again.

[gizmoman]

We were camped in Dairy and they had a huge problem with people jumping the fence. They said most were coming in, stealing from tents and then jumping back over the fence to get out again.

[twirlygirl]

I thought at some point that we had camped in an unoffical scouse part of the festival. We didn't hear a southern/scottish/irish/cornish/european - southern or eastern accent until Saturday afternoon. And yes we did leave our tent after setting it up Wednesday 11am.

Every time we were in a queue that was the accent we could hear above all others. Not that I care as I had a ticket and I was having fun but the other half and I did wonder if they had preferential treatment from see this year.