Young vandals were ‘dicing with death’ at ESBstation

April 2003

A GROUP of youths were dicing with death at the weekend when they brought down a 10,000 volts electricity line crashing to the ground in an Arklow housing estate.

The lower part of the town, including most of the Main Street were plunged into darkness for three hours on Sunday night after vandals threw a chain across the high tension wires at Churchview.

An ESB spokesperson said that the action of the culprits resulted in the ESB line burning down, and the wire coming crashing to the ground.

‘It was a very dangerous thing to do,’ the spokesperson said.

‘Luckily the electricity power tripped out but that is not always guaranteed to happen. The wire could have been live on the ground, posing a danger to the culprits themselves, as well as the public.’