A NUMBER of mobile phones were stolen from lockers in Wellington School during a PE lesson.

Some 12 devices belonging to students were taken from the locker room during a month where crime remained steady, latest figures show.

Acting Wellington sergeant Mark Vickery told town councillors at their monthly meeting on Monday that the incident was one of 34 during May – a repeat number of offences from the previous month.

But despite there being no variance in the amount of crimes overall, the number of actual bodily harm and common assault offences increased to nine – up by seven on April.

Incidents included an attack on Vintage Inn landlord David Lock, 49, which resulted in the arrest of a man, as reported in the County Gazette last week.

A man was also beaten up in an “alcohol-fuelled” attack in South Street car park, Sgt Vickery said.

Councillors heard how the victim was assaulted following an argument over a woman being ‘chatted up’, at which point he was set upon by a male friend of the woman.

Sgt Vickery said one arrest had been made in connection with the alleged grievous bodily harm offence.

Wellington Baptist Church, by the South Street car park, also suffered a cracked window in a separate incident.

Commercial vehicles – namely vans – were prime targets for thieves throughout May.

There were four instances of fuel being siphoned in “random places at random times” with a trend emerging to suggest vehicles left on industrial estates were most vulnerable.