Thirty cars damaged in vandals’ crime spree

VANDALS caused thousands of pounds of damage after wrecking 30 cars in an overnight crime spree.

Nine of them belonged to motor dealer Rashid Saleem. The businessman – who also works as a cabbie – thinks he will have to take on extra shifts to pay for the damage.

“What are you going to do? That’s the problem,” he said.

“They just smashed the windows. There was no stealing or anything. This has never happened before in this area and it’s the first time it has happened to me.

“It’s going to cost me nearly £3,000, so it’s just wasting my money.”

The dad-of-three has been running Qazi Motors for a year, building it up from three cars.

He was “shocked” by the damage.

“It took me about 14 or 15 months to get here and straight away nine cars are damaged,” he said.

“I don’t know what it is about, as I’m nice with everyone. I just want to get on with my business. I don’t want this to happen again, and I don’t expect it to happen again. I have a simple request, please don’t do it next time.”

The attack happened on Cromwell Road, Newport, where Christine Ormond lives. The tyres were slashed on a van and car she owns.

A Gwent police spokesman said: “We would like to speak with three males in relation to this crime.

“The damage has cost the victims significantly, as tyres were slashed along with windows being smashed.”