Rescue charity is terrorised by teen tearaways
VANDALS CAUSEUSE £1K OF DAMAGE
CRUEL young vandals have ve caused £1,000 worth of damage e to a charity building in Hull after er repeatedly targeting the premises es over the new year period.
A Humberside Police spokesswoman said officers had spoken n to the teenage tearaways with their ir parents after catching them in the he act at the Oakwood Dog Rescue ue centre in Chanterlands Avenue on New Year’s Eve.
But Oakwood charity ty trustee Gill Williams said youths hs had continued to target the site – which only opened in February last st year but has been forced to remain in closed since because of the coronaavirus pandemic – over the past few ew days.
“We have these big gates es at the front, but kids are climbing ng over from the crematorium,” she he said.
“They caught some kids in the act on New Year’s Eve, but they just took some details and sent them home. That’s the most frustrating thing, because then over the weekend we had even more problems.”
The building is well secured, said, with high fences and CCTV.
But it appears to have done little to deter the unruly teens, who have caused damage to the doors, broken into the outdoor toilets and even dragged away a picnic bench on to the nearby playing fields and smashed it into pieces.
Two youths were even caught on the charity’s Ring doorbell camera urinating by the door and trying to kick the dog waste bins off the walls.
In one instance, a woman working at the site to try to prepare it for a potential reopening was verbally abused by teens scaling the fence as they waited for her to leave so the building would be empty.
“The building is as secure as we can get it, but it’s just causing us worry,” Gill said.
“We’re just not getting anywhere and these parents need to know, because we’re worried about them breaking in properly – not to steal anything, but just vandalism for the sake of vandalism, it seems. They’re doing it for fun.”
Humberside Police said officers had attended the premises at just after 7.30pm on New Year’s Eve following she
One of the doors was kicked down
a report of f youths h causing i problems. bl
They received another call on Sunday, December 3, following reports of two youths on the premises.
Neighbourhood Police Team Inspector Craig Mattinson said: “We are aware of a number of young people who are congregating on the grounds and have dealt with a number of them concerning damage caused to the premises and antisocial behaviour.
“The local policing team have spoken to the young people with their parents and will continue to deal with any further reports in the most appropriate way.
“Another person has also been identified through CCTV footage and they will be questioned in relation to an incident of criminal damage.
“We understand the frustrations that this is causing and we want to assure nearby residents and business that we are taking all reports of this nature seriously.
“We have increased patrols in the area at the times the issues are occurring and we would encourage people to continue to report any issues they have.
“Our priority is to make the community a safer place to live for everyone and if you’re concerned about something that is happening near you, please get in touch and let us know.
“You can speak to our neighbourhood team whilst we’re out and about, or call our non-emergency line 101.”