Vandals leave trail of blood at record office

10:11am Tuesday 13th May 2008

The county record office in Haverfordwest is due to reopen today after it was broken into over the weekend.

Vandals forced their way into the office at Haverfordwest Castle on Saturday night causing damage to office equipment, computers and filing cabinets.

Police were alerted to the break-in by a neighbouring resident at around 10.20pm. They found a trail of blood, fingerprints and footprints and hundreds of filing cards scattered all over the floor.

The burglars, believed to be youngsters, smashed their way through the outer window glass and inner secondary glazing to gain entry, evidently cutting themselves on jagged broken panes as they squeezed in and out of the window of the search room.

The records themselves are locked away in impenetrable strong rooms behind the thick iron doors of the old 19th century county jail, and nothing of value appears to have been stolen.

Discarded beer cans were found littering the castle grounds. Scenes of crime officers worked over the weekend gathering evidence.

A statement from the County Cultural Services department read: "Nothing was stolen but the search room was left in a state of disarray. The Office was closed on Monday to enable staff to clear up the mess."

Police confirmed that nothing had been taken from the office. They asked any witnesses, or anyone with any information about the break in, to contact Haverfordwest police station on 0845 330 2000.

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