Sports Trust ‘victim of sinister vendetta’
STUART PIKE stuart.pike@menmedia.co.uk @stuartpike78
ACCRINGTON Stanley Community Trust (ASCT) says it has fallen victim to a “despicable” campaign of intimidation.
Staff arrived at the Stanley Sports Hub on the morning of Monday, July 20 to find a padlock attached to entrance gates and also rusty nails strewn across the entrance to the new Thorneyholme Road complex.
They say it is the latest incident in a “sinister” vendetta of sabotage and intimidation over recent weeks, with separate incidents including broken bottles being thrown onto sports pitches, and even death threats to staff.
Trust chiefs, who exclusively unveiled its new £2m Sports Hub at Higham Playing Fields to the Observer just before March’s lockdown, believe a small number of adults are involved.
A spokesperson said: “There has been a number of very serious incidents lately.
“There were nails and screws near the entrance to try and pop car tyres.
“The gate was padlocked. “We have had glass and stones thrown onto the 3G pitch where kids play football.
“We have had somebody taking photos of our staff and children at the pitch, and recovered glass from broken bottles. We have also had somebody try to break into our machinery.
“Some of our staff have been receiving death threats.
“It’s sabotage, a campaign of intimidation.
“This isn’t kids up to mischief - this is sinister.”
The trust say they have had a couple of tip-offs of names which they have provided to police to follow up.
The full site is monitored by CCTV and the trust say police are stepping up patrols.
The spokesperson said: “This is a community facility that children and their families use, and the people that are doing this could cause serious harm to staff members, the general community, and children.
“Once we find out who it is we will be absolutely pressing charges to the highest level.
“We’re not going to let this go.”
The Hub is currently running on a skeleton staff, but they are looking to reopen pitches again soon following recent Government announcements on relaxing restrictions.
The spokesperson added: “We are doing it for the good of the community.
“Thousands of people use the facility every week when we are at full capacity.
“They are not going to stop anything.”
Hyndburn council leader Miles Parkinson said the incidents sounded “despicable”.
He added: “It’s a wonderful development there with a modern building and more investment going in.
“It’s one or two individuals.”
ASCT have released footage of a man they believe to be wearing a mask and hood and attaching a padlock to the entrance gates.
On their Facebook page, they posted on Monday: “The person involved walks down from the top of Thorneyholme Road last night (Sunday 19th July) around 10.08pm, and exits the facility, continuing to walk down Thorneyholme Road towards Ribblesdale Avenue.”
They have asked residents in this area to check their CCTV and contact them if they have images.
Police have not responded to requests for a comment.