Vandals to pay £1,000 each after damaging park

‘Crazy and senseless’ pair caught after videos of destruction posted online

Two men who repeatedly vandalised a country park – destroying its prized “dinosaur food” plants and wrecking a crazy golf course – were caught after “celebratory” videos were posted online, a court heard.

Grant Donaldson, 23, and 21-year-old chef Nathan Foster were each ordered to pay £1,000 compensation to the Friends of Craigtoun Country Park over a two-month campaign of vandalism.

Their rampages included smashing up a fence, breaking the stems of Brazilian giant rhubarb plants – known by gardeners as dinosaur food – forcibly removing figurines from a crazy golf course and launching them into plants and a play park.

They also removed boats from a shed and sent them, their oars and life-jackets out into a boating pond.

The pair’s involvement was detected after videos of Donaldson taking part in the crimes were posted to the Snapchat social media app.

A sheriff branded the pair “crazy and senseless” yesterday and ordered them to pay a £500 fine each on top of the £1,000 compensation they are each to pay.

Depute fiscal Eilidh Robertson told Dundee Sheriff Court the giant rhubarb plants had recovered, but not to their previous scale.

She said: “They were kicked over to the extent their stems were snapped. It is hoped they will eventually grow back.”

Donaldson, 23, Berry Place, St Andrews, and Foster, 21, Younger Gardens, St Andrews, both pled guilty to vandalism committed between May 13 and July 31 last year at Craigtoun Countryside Park, St Andrews.

Defence solicitor Scott Norrie, for Donaldson, a plasterer, said: “It can be fairly described as yobbish behaviour.”

David Bell, for Foster, said: “There were groups of young people congregating there after closing time.

“It wasn’t a particularly targeted attack.”

Sheriff Derek Reekie said: “This was crazy, senseless behaviour to a public amenity there for the benefit of everybody, run by a charity.

“It’s all very well to come along and say you’ll pay for the damage.

“That doesn’t properly reflect the public and the court’s disapproval of this sort of behaviour.”

Kyffin Roberts, chairman for the Friends of Craigtoun Park group, yesterday said: “We had lots of incidents of vandalism last year.

“Obviously we’re pleased that the police have managed to discover who was responsible and take them to court.

“Hopefully it will deter others from carrying out the kind of mindless vandalism that was going on in the park last summer.”