Misery for Swindon drivers as 150 tyres are slashed (From Swindon Advertiser)
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Misery for Swindon drivers as 150 tyres are slashed
8:20am Friday 22nd February 2013 in News By Josh Layton
Kayleigh Hall, of Dixon Street, with her car which had all four tyres slashed
RESIDENTS were lost for words as they woke up to find vandals had punctured more than 150 car tyres across a wide area of Swindon.
Entire rows of parked vehicles had been attacked during the spree in the early hours of yesterday leading to a major response from police.
Forensic units and foot patrols were sent out to an area spanning almost two miles from the Marriott, in Old Town, to Dixon Street, in Eastcott.
All four tyres had been punctured on some cars, with the damage thought to have been inflicted with a sharpened screwdriver or tool rather than a knife.
Andy Notton, 49, was in Dixon Street helping his son-in-law Mathew Barrett change the two tyres on the Ford Transit they use for their plumbing business.
He said: “It’s sad It’s probably been done by people who live at home with their parents. The only way to get retribution is to slash some of their possessions, like their clothes and their bedding, and let them see how it feels. It’s just stupid.”
Kayleigh Hall, 26, a vehicle purchaser found all four wheels slashed on her Mini Cooper convertible.
She said: “It’s just baffling why someone would want to do this. I think only the people who did this know what their motive was.”
Another neighbour, Sian Wilson, 33, needed three tyres changed on her Vauxhall Astra.
The project manager said: “That’s the holiday fund out the window.
“Once you consider the excess and the high premiums there is no point claiming it on insurance.
“Words can’t describe what I think about whoever was behind this. Times are hard enough as it is.”
Several vehicles in the Marriott Hotel car park, which is covered by CCTV, were attacked and the trail continued through Marlbor-ough Lane and into nearby streets, including Berenger Close and Quentin Road, before commercial vehicles were targeted on the Central Trading Estate.
Prospect Place and Stafford Street were also affected as the spree continued towards the town centre, and it appeared Minis had been singled out from other makes of car.
Wiltshire Police confirmed it had received more than 70 reports of criminal damage to cars.
East sector Inspector Joe Saunders said officers were dealing with a large scale incident of criminal damage which took place between 2am and 5am. He said: “We have not made any arrests but detectives are following up lines of inquiry.”
Superintendent Gavin Williams said: “This incident is being robustly resourced and, if needs be, I will assign more officers to this case.
“Someoneknows who is responsible and I would urge them, or the perpetrators, to come forward immediately.”
Anyone with information should contact police on 101 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 .
Comments(21)
whaddahey?!
says...
9:16am Fri 22 Feb 13
This is the weirdest and seemingly most pointless crime to have hit town for many a long year. The perpurtrator has to be one seriously messed up or stupid individual.
MrBstard
says...
9:17am Fri 22 Feb 13
Eastcott wrote:Eastcott says..."I was dismayed yesterday to see lots of cars with flat tyres around Old Town, with Imperial Tyres flyers placed under their wipers"
I saw a police van parked at the end of Hythe Road early this morning. I suspect they just left it there as a visible deterrent, rather than actually manned it. Probably too much paperwork to get on with back at the station. I also very much hope any Marriott CCTV footage leads to the capture of the mindless ***hole who did this. And I was dismayed yesterday to see lots of cars with flat tyres around Old Town, with Imperial Tyres flyers placed under their wipers, offering competitive rates and on-site replacements. Seems insensitive and opportunistic to me.”
Ummm, makes you wonder.
Tim Newroman
says...
9:32am Fri 22 Feb 13
The perpurtrator has to be one seriously messed up or stupid individual.
They'll be even more messed up if the public get to them before the police.
Sadly, I fully suspect the judge in the case will ensure that the ****'s name is given a blanket ban on publication.
Thanks to social media, the public will find out regardless. The criminal concerned will eventually have to leave Swindon. That must is for sure.
weirdwiltshire
says...
9:51am Fri 22 Feb 13
Waking up yesterday, not only to find my tyres slashed, but the whole drivers side keyed (as were many other cars) puts the cost of repairs into many hundreds of pounds!
The police actually did turn up at my house at 8:30pm, but could give no details on what they were doing to find them, what they planned to do over the next few nights to reassure residents and really, that was a waste of 30 minutes of my life listening to their waffle.
I don't expect the perpetrator will be local to the Old Town area, some low-life, most likely on benefits with no work ethic, with their trousers round their **** and capable of only saying 'Init!!' to everything will turn out to be the most likely culprit.
Mushymushy
says...
9:55am Fri 22 Feb 13
. Just a thought.
You never know.
PaulD
says...
10:30am Fri 22 Feb 13
On the other hand, the criminals that did this deserve a cricket bat to the teeth
house on the hill
says...
12:39pm Fri 22 Feb 13
As for the tw4t who did this, a cricket bat to the teeth is too good for him, chop his hands off (which would ruin his sex life as well!!!!)
Tim Newroman
says...
12:41pm Fri 22 Feb 13
Mushymushy wrote:A number of people have suggested this, I can't really see it, myself.
Maybe the mindless yobs were in fact working for somebody,somebody who has a interest in specialising in tyre repairs/replacements
. Just a thought.
You never know.
For a start how would any tyre replacement company know if any of those affected would come to them for replacements. Secondly, if/when it emerged that they'd been involved in such an exercise it'd be the immediate end of their business, and jail.
Also, even if you're in a hole and need to drum up quick money, 150 cars (so maybe as many as 400 to 600 tyres)? It'd take you weeks to replace them all - and people can't wait weeks.
All the police would need to do is check any local tyre companies for larger orders over the previous month.
SlantedView
says...
1:02pm Fri 22 Feb 13
Rob Ross will defend the cowardly little scrote/s, plead that they've had a tough upbringing, are hooked on heroin and will never, ever do it again! The very wise old judge will give them a 1 year suspended jail term and a £20 fine. Any idea why the UK is a breeding ground for cowardly morons like this?!?
dukeofM4
says...
1:08pm Fri 22 Feb 13
However a minority of the tyres may be repairable at less cost.
Slashing tyres would also take time. If they could slash 3 per minute, it would take them about 166 minutes. So 3 people would take about 1 hour or less to do the job.
Tim Newroman
says...
1:09pm Fri 22 Feb 13
SlantedView wrote:Sadly, you'll almost certainly be accurate with your prediction.
Unfortunately you know what's next!...
Rob Ross will defend the cowardly little scrote/s, plead that they've had a tough upbringing, are hooked on heroin and will never, ever do it again! The very wise old judge will give them a 1 year suspended jail term and a £20 fine. Any idea why the UK is a breeding ground for cowardly morons like this?!?
Whoever did this has caused around £60k worth of damage, blighted hundreds of lives and cost people missed days at work and endless other inconveniences.
The worst part about it is that everyone already knows that the eventual 'punishment' handed down by the judge will nowhere near fit the seriousness and devastation of the crime.
I dare say the defence laywer will also claim 'learning difficulties', or some such nonsense, that the judge will just lap up.
The only upside to any of this is that out of 150 people whose cars were targetted, you can guarantee that at least 2 or 3 of them will be grade A nutters themselves, and will deliver some more appropriate justice of their own once the name(s) of the criminals appear online.
house on the hill
says...
1:36pm Fri 22 Feb 13
We can but hope!!!!
Tim Newroman
says...
2:01pm Fri 22 Feb 13
house on the hill wrote:Oh, it'll happen. The mood in Old Town yesterday was 'interesting' to say the least.
""The only upside to any of this is that out of 150 people whose cars were targetted, you can guarantee that at least 2 or 3 of them will be grade A nutters themselves, and will deliver some more appropriate justice of their own once the name(s) of the criminals appear online.”""
We can but hope!!!!
If anything, the expected unduly lenient, non-custodial sentence from the judge will be exactly what certain people are hoping for...
It could get out of hand, though. Already I've heard people talking about 'inviting' the families of the criminal(s) responsible to make good people's out of pocket repair expenses.
Still, at least these ***** are about to discover the true consequences of their couple of hours of 'fun' the other night.
Amberflame
says...
2:43pm Fri 22 Feb 13
Amberflame
says...
3:55pm Fri 22 Feb 13
Amberflame wrote:Just like to add that this would be on top of the criminal prosecution!
Any chance of bringing back the stocks? Always felt that public humiliation could be fitting punishment for pathetic crimes like this. Or perhaps the person could be made to walk around Swindon with a placard "I'm a pathetic excuse for a human being!"
tfidean
says...
4:32pm Fri 22 Feb 13
Hmmmf
says...
4:38pm Fri 22 Feb 13
In 1800, the population of the UK was around 16 million. The crime rate was about 5000 per year, and you could still be hanged, whipped, pilloried, transported or imprisoned for theft, but not branded.
In 1900, the population of the UK was close to 40 million people, and sweeping reforms meant you could no longer be transported, pilloried, whipped, or hanged for theft, though you could still be hanged for murder.
In 2000, the population of the UK was close to 59 million, and now you laugh as you leave 'the last chance saloon' again no matter what offence you've committed.
In 1600 they knew what was meant by 'stopping the rot' and 'one bad apple spoils the barrel'.
leafy1
says...
4:46pm Fri 22 Feb 13
roberto5
says...
5:58pm Fri 22 Feb 13
leafy1 wrote:How hard is it to actually cut through a tire which is fully inflated? I would always imagine it going bang! I reckon there must be more than one person doing this, 150 is a hell of a lot of cars with some having all 4 tyres being cut. Being on your own would take too long surely. Could it of been because of the football that night, with the Champions League on, someone lost a big bet, or really annoyed took it out on everyone else?
If you have tried cutting rubber it aint an easy task.....so I am guessing that whoever slashed these tyres may have slipped a few times and bent a few blades......maybe cut themselves while doing it so there could well be blood on some tyres or a bloodied blade nearby.There may be hope in catching the culprits......That is if they are on the DNA database.
Phantom Poster
says...
8:10pm Fri 22 Feb 13
Hmmmf wrote:Correlation does not imply causation.
In 1600, the population of the UK was around 4.8 million people. You could be hanged, branded, whipped, pilloried, transported or imprisoned just for theft
In 1800, the population of the UK was around 16 million. The crime rate was about 5000 per year, and you could still be hanged, whipped, pilloried, transported or imprisoned for theft, but not branded.
In 1900, the population of the UK was close to 40 million people, and sweeping reforms meant you could no longer be transported, pilloried, whipped, or hanged for theft, though you could still be hanged for murder.
In 2000, the population of the UK was close to 59 million, and now you laugh as you leave 'the last chance saloon' again no matter what offence you've committed.
In 1600 they knew what was meant by 'stopping the rot' and 'one bad apple spoils the barrel'.
Do you seriously think that the increase in the population of the UK over the centuries is as a result of increasing leniency on crime? Does the same apply to China, India, Africa etc.?
The standard of living in the UK has likewise improved - can that be attributed to the same thing?
In most of the dates you mention we had slavery - should we re-introduce that?
Eastcott says...
8:31am Fri 22 Feb 13