Kentish Express Ashford & District
CATAPULT CRIMEWAVE ON THE RISE
Ashford is the catapult crime capital of Kent – with incidents almost trebling in the borough over the last three years, a Kentish Express investigation has found.
Statistics released by police show that of the 80 slingshot reports made in the county last year, 27 of them were in Ashford – compared to only 10 in the district in 2016.
Angry residents say they are getting tired of the attacks, which have seen windows smashed, animals injured and even a cyclist hurt by a rock in Shadoxhurst.
It is not illegal to own or carry a catapult unless a solid link can be found between the carrier and a crime, but there are now calls for a change in the law.
Police say most reported incidents involve children.
The latest incident in the borough was recorded last Wednesday, when a bird was shot at in Brookfield Court.
Last month, a man reported being fired at by a catapult on January 8, after trying to stop a person taking a scooter from outside a home in Mortimer Close, South Ashford.
The victim suffered a minor injury to his shoulder and the window of a property was smashed.
In August, a cyclist in Shadoxhurst suffered cuts and swelling to the head when she was hit by a catapult-fired rock in Church Lane, near the junction with Nickley Wood Road.
In a separate incident a month later, a 16-year-old boy from the town was arrested on September 21 on suspicion of attempted criminal damage after a catapult was used to fire an object at a window in Kingsnorth Road.
Police say eight incidents involving slingshots were then reported over a threeday period between December 10-13.
They were in Victoria Park, Green Fields Lane, Running Foxes Lane, Hoxton Close, Knoll Lane and Buxford Lane.
Mersham resident Karen Smith says she will have to pay £200 to repair a bedroom window after her house was targeted just after Christmas.
She said: “I was alone in the room working on my laptop, away from the window thankfully, and my five-yearold daughter was asleep in her room.
“Thankfully the incident didn’t wake her and I told her a bird damaged the window.
“She would have been very scared had she known the truth.
“Having a stone smash my window when I was home alone without my husband was a frightening experience.”
Mark Street, from Ashford, who was subjected to a suspected attack in the town, says he thinks catapult crime should be taken “much more seriously”.
He said: “Rightly or wrongly, it feels like the police treat catapult attacks less seriously than other forms of violent crime.
“At the very least catapults should be confiscated and the names of those carrying them recorded by the police.
“There is a call to see carrying them as a form of intent in my view.
“If there is any proof of wrongdoing, surely such attacks should carry a custodial sentence?
“The law exposing a huge loophole with these weapons as they seem to fall between the cracks, even though they can cause life-changing injuries and even death.
“Ultimately these things should be classed as offensive weapons as they can cause as much damage as knives.”
‘At the very least catapults should be confiscated and the names of those recorded by police’