THIEVES stole up to £8,000 worth of valuables from a schoolbus while students took part in a field trip at Lough Navar on Tuesday this week.

Sixteen pupils and two staff members from St Comhghall’s College, Lisnaskea were conducting a river study at the Fermanagh beauty spot.

All but one of them had items stolen.

The thieves stole money, phones, watches, car keys, even lunch boxes and shoes in the midday schoolbus break-in.

“Some of the students had to go home in their sock soles,” principal of the school, Gary Kelly told the Impartial Reporter yesterday (Wednesday), “They had been wearing wellies for the river study and when they returned to the bus, they found the shoes were gone along with everything else.” The wellies had been on loan from the study centre and had to be returned.

The incident was made all the more frustrating due to the fact that there was no phone signal to make contact with the police.

“I had to walk for about 40 minutes to get reception to contact the PSNI,” said the principal, “It just highlights the huge issue we have here in Fermanagh. What if a child had injured themselves or had a fit or something like that. It would have been a long time before they would have received medical assistance.” According to Mr. Kelly, students had been left very upset by the ordeal.

“It that invasion of personal property and space that has left students feeling very uneasy,” he said, “You would think, especically because of the fact that these are school kids, someone would have a conscience. To see a school bus and know that you are stealing from children -- what kind of person does that?

“One kid had an iPhone 6 and an iPhone watch taken. That would be up to £1,000 worth of valuables. It is just unbelievable.

“They took absolutely everything. One teacher lost her car keys, purse, cards, mobile phone. She now has to get her car and house locks changed.

“Some of the students said there had been a number of similar break-ins a Lough Navar. They had seen it on the Fermanagh PSNI Facebook page.

“While we were there, they could actually still see the glass from where vehicles had been broken into recently.” Mr. Kelly paid tribute to the work of the police who attended on Tuesday.

“They were absolutely excellent. They comforted the kids while they were there.

“The phones were tracked in Sligo about an hour afterwards. Whoever did this, knew what they were doing.” Only one window had been broken in the bus to allow thieves access.

“It’s probably only about £100 to £150 worth of damage to the bus,” said Mr. Kelly, “But our insurance does not cover contents on the school bus. It’s a big loss to any youngster. Particularly because they rely on their phones so much.

“But as I have said to them today and to their parents: It could have been a thousand times worse. Phones can be replaced.” Mr. Noel Elliott, Head of FSC Northern Ireland, said: "We are very sorry for the distress caused to the students, teachers and parents from this awful incident, on what should have been an enjoyable day learning outside the classroom. Our staff were praised for their help and assistance given to the students and teachers following the incident. They dealt in a professional manner with this very difficult situation which was very much out of our control.

"FSC is an established charity with over 70 years’ experience of delivering outdoor learning opportunities. We take great pride in the day and residential learning experiences we offer, welcoming over 4,500 students each year to Derrygonnelly to benefit from outdoor learning.”