The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Family set up recording device to apprehend man targeting father’ s grave
An Arbroath family has had to resort to using a recording device hidden in a cemetery to catch a man vandalising a relative’s grave – after two years of “absolute hell”.
Stephanie Doyle says broken bottles and empty cans have regularly been left at her dad David’s headstone – and ornaments left smashed.
An investigation is under way at Angus Council amid claims the person responsible works for the local authority.
The family has been left baffled, as none of them know the individual who is thought to be responsible, and can think of no reason for Mr Doyle’s grave to be targeted.
After suffering two years of torment, his brothers Ronald and John decided to try to catch the culprit, setting up the device in a tree in the Arbroath graveyard.
One piece of footage clearly identifies a man’s face and personalised number plate.
The man is seen to throw an item towards the grave.
Ms Doyle, who lives in the Angus town with her partner and their children – April, 4, and one-year-old Ollie – said: “It’s left me devastated and so drained with it all – it’s been absolute hell.
“And it’s left us all wondering why someone would want to do this and have no consideration for me and my family.
“I’ve just been left feeling so worn down because it’s been going on for so long now, and we don’t know why he has something against us.
“We don’t know if the person was doing it for their own reasons or someone else was getting them to do it.
“We can’t think of why anyone would have anything against us or my dad. He was a bricklayer and then later had his own window-cleaning round.
“My dad did have a problem with drink at one point so we wondered if that’s why people were smashing drink bottles and leaving cans, to try to taunt us.
“You can see in one picture there are four or five different types of beer cans left at the grave, it’s just weird.
“It’s been going on for two years according to a worker at the cemetery.
“He was cleaning it up, and assumed it was just someone having a drink at the grave, toasting a friend or whatever. Then we started to notice things getting broken and damaged.
“Owing to that, I found it really difficult going to see my dad at the cemetery because it would upset me if something had happened.”
Ms Doyle, a health and social care student, says that both a candle with “granddad” written on it from her children and a plaque with “dad” on it from her and her siblings have been damaged or smashed.
After setting the camera up, footage shows what appears to be the same car driving past the grave on several occasions and a person throwing an item at it.
“Three times it was the same car and the guy wearing the same Celtic top,” said Ms Doyle, who is “sure” it is the same culprit each time.
Her father died suddenly in 2016, aged 50, due to problems with his heart, also leaving her siblings Loretta, 25, and David Jr, 23.
The headstone is next to a larger one for Mr Doyle’s grandparents.
His mother Theresa, who is 78, has been unable to bury her husband Robert’s ashes at the grave for fear of them being disturbed. He passed away in January from kidney failure, making the situation even more traumatic for the family.
A Police Scotland spokeswoman said: “We are aware of reports of vandalism within Western Cemetery in Arbroath and inquiries are ongoing to identify those responsible.
“Contact Police Scotland on 101 with information.”
A spokeswoman for Angus Council said: “We are aware of this complaint and following our procedures and carrying out our own investigations into this matter.”