Catapult vandals target people and cars on ring-road

A spate of catapult attacks ramped up over the weekend as numerous people and vehicles were targeted on a 100-metre stretch of the ring-road.

Kabi Cazal was driving along Somerset Road at 12.45pm on Sunday when her front passenger window violently shattered.

Police investigating the incident later informed her a similar report had been made shortly afterwards.

Posting about the experience on social media, a number of people described being recently targeted by catapults – a prolific crime in the town.

One commenter, Paulina Jesiołowska, was targeted when crossing the same road with her daughters, aged just three and four years old.

“It happened at the traffic lights opposite Domino’s Pizza, when I was crossing the road with my two daughters and their auntie,” she recalled.

“They only hit me, but if they hurt my children I don’t know what I would have done.

“I noticed a boy hiding behind the curtain in one window. I’ve seen the boys shouting and showing middle fingers to passers by in the past so I knew it must have been them.

“I asked my friend to take the children away to safety and I went to speak to the boys.

“I reported it to the police but clearly they didn’t take it seriously enough.”

The annoyed mother lives nearby and has to walk past the spot “almost every day”.

She says she is “worried now to walk there with my kids, they were terrified... how sick one has to be to shoot at three- and fouryear-old children”.

A further incident, which happened at 1pm on Monday, saw a bus being hit by a catapulted projectile on the same road.

One passenger recounted: “Something hit the window and shattered it. We had no clue what the hell it was, but it hit it hard.

“Luckily the window didn’t fall out onto the old lady sat right by it. What is wrong with people?”

This spree came on the second weekend in which a dispersal order was in force across South Ashford.

Implemented between Victoria Park and Stanhope, police had increased powers to direct anyone found causing harassment, alarm or distress to leave.

If those people returned, they could be arrested – and Police Inspector Katie Reed says action was taken over the 48-hour period.

“Patrols were carried out and people were stopped and searched during that time, leading to three dispersal notices issued,” she said.

“Officers also attended the Charing area of the district following a report of young people seen with catapults during the afternoon of Sunday, which led to the search of six people and two catapults being recovered.

“Police will be speaking to the parents of the children regarding the incident.

“Dispersal orders are just one of the tools we use to tackle certain issues in an area and deter those responsible from continuing with the nuisance behaviour.

“The flexibility of an order means that the streets included within a particular dispersal order can be reviewed and assessed each time.

“So we continue to ask that people report any incidents to us to ensure any measures we take are done so as effectively as possible.

“We would also like to urge parents and guardians to speak to their children about the serious repercussions of carrying and using a catapult.”

‘They only hit me, but if they hurt my children I don’t know what I would have done – it’s sick...’

Kabi Cazal’s front passenger window was completely shattered by the projectile; it was one of a number of incidents in Somerset Road at the weekend

Trousers the cat was shot at in South Ashford last month