Terror spree: Graffiti has been sprayed along pensioners'
Rampaging youths have left a group of Surbiton pensioners afraid to leave their flats after terrorising them over a fortnight - prompting police advice to remove doormats.
Over the last two weeks, they have seen their property vandalised, their belongings set fire to and have faced abuse when they dared to confront those they believe are responsible.
More than half the residents at Headley in King Charles Road, Surbiton, are in sheltered accommodation, with some as old as 95.
During the half term holiday, a teen was spotted setting fire to a vase of decorative twigs, just inches from one resident's front door. Two days later, bicycle tyres were set alight outside another flat.
It has got so bad that police warned residents to remove everything from their hallways - including doormats - for fear the youths could start an even bigger fire.
One elderly woman, who is too scared to be named, said: "We should not be living here, old people like us. I'm scared to go out."
advertisement
Resident Marey Moulton, 77, said: "It's at night time we are scared. It is absolutely terrifying. This place has turned into the slum of Kingston and Surbiton. It is a disgrace. If we get any more problems I want to leave here."
Graffiti has been sprayed along their stairs in three blocks and youths are often spotted smoking cannabis outside their front doors.
"This place has turned into the slum of Kingston and Surbiton."
Marey Moulton
Residents have demanded that the front door to their block should be locked, with only residents having a key.
Councillor Frances Mosley said CCTV could be a solution but a council spokeswoman said the council was not in the "financial position" to install cameras.
A spokesman for Kingston police said: "Berrylands safer neighbourhood team is aware of the recent arsons and is concerned with catching those responsible as soon as possible.
"It has done some leaflet drops warning residents of the arsons and asking people living in the blocks to take preventative action in the form of moving mats and other items inside their homes.
"It is also doing reassurance patrols as much as it can to remain visible and it has spoken to residents to gather information - although, to date, no one has been able to assist it with suspects."
The team has arranged a meeting with the estate manager this week to discuss this and other matters.
The police spokesman said: "Unfortunately, the arsons have been random, at differing times and there was no pattern to them.
However, Kingston police will continue to gather information and make every attempt to stop this callous behaviour. If you have any information, please contact Kingston police and, in the case of an emergency, call 999."
hmmm not in the finacial position to install cctv? is that really true.
seeing as i just saw a lot of new LEZ cameras installed on the A3, they look a tad more pricey than your standard cctv.
face it. protecting the public isnt top of the list. protecting people is below money making traffic cameras.
as i type there is a police woman out my window sitting in her car waiting to catch people driving on their mobile phones.
priorities.
hmmm not in the finacial position to install cctv? is that really true.
seeing as i just saw a lot of new LEZ cameras installed on the A3, they look a tad more pricey than your standard cctv.
face it. protecting the public isnt top of the list. protecting people is below money making traffic cameras.
as i type there is a police woman out my window sitting in her car waiting to catch people driving on their mobile phones.
[quote][bold]ric[/bold] wrote:
hmmm not in the finacial position to install cctv? is that really true. seeing as i just saw a lot of new LEZ cameras installed on the A3, they look a tad more pricey than your standard cctv. face it. protecting the public isnt top of the list. protecting people is below money making traffic cameras. as i type there is a police woman out my window sitting in her car waiting to catch people driving on their mobile phones. priorities. [/quote] Sad But True!
ric wrote:
hmmm not in the finacial position to install cctv? is that really true. seeing as i just saw a lot of new LEZ cameras installed on the A3, they look a tad more pricey than your standard cctv. face it. protecting the public isnt top of the list. protecting people is below money making traffic cameras. as i type there is a police woman out my window sitting in her car waiting to catch people driving on their mobile phones. priorities.
Posted by: G.Virr, Sunbury Common on 3:43pm Wed 5 Mar 08
CCTV is no longer effective. Any criminal with a modicum of intelligence now knows to wear non-descript clothing and to hide his or her face.Even if they do not reports say the image quality is not good enough to support a successful prosecution.
The residents suggestion of locks on the front doors of the blocks seems a sensible idea. Much cheaper than CCTV. Perhaps even cheaper than a leaflet drop.
Another example of why our police should be on foot on the streets. Not filling in forms, driving aimlessly around, meeting stupid targets and watching CCTV screens.
CCTV is no longer effective. Any criminal with a modicum of intelligence now knows to wear non-descript clothing and to hide his or her face.Even if they do not reports say the image quality is not good enough to support a successful prosecution.
The residents suggestion of locks on the front doors of the blocks seems a sensible idea. Much cheaper than CCTV. Perhaps even cheaper than a leaflet drop.
Another example of why our police should be on foot on the streets. Not filling in forms, driving aimlessly around, meeting stupid targets and watching CCTV screens.
If you liked this article and would like to share it with others on the web who might be searching for good content we've made it easy for you to do it.
At the bottom of all articles, you'll see links to six sites. These sites - commonly called 'social bookmark' or 'social news' sites - have large communities of web users who share and rate interesting, useful and fun things on the web.
Clicking the links will automatically add the address of the story you are reading to one of these sites, letting you share it with others. Each site will ask you to register to share stories. Registration is free and once a member, you can store, recommend and search for stories that interest you.
Print
Email this
Comment
