grrr, mindless vandalism

Lord Pablo · 20 Mar 2006 at 19:02

ok, i'll try to keep it as brief as possible.

not long after moving into this house, the local kids took a shine to our back garden.

gaining access via an unlocked council gate, they have been trespassing in next doors garden, using our garden as a through-route.

first they kicked down a good portion of our garden wall (part of it had fallen apart before we moved in) and about 30 minutes ago, they have completely destroyed the wooden gate.

the gate was a botched job and didnt fit the frame, so we nailed some board to it, to keep it closed, but now, its just a pile of wood.

considered calling the police, but honestly, what can they do? we know roughly what one kid looks like, but its not always him coming and going.

so the only thing i can think of doing is getting onto our landlords to get the wall fixed, brick up where the gate is and install things like prickle strips and vandal paint.

seeing as this is coming form the fact a council gate is left unlocked, will we be able to get the council to take any resposibility? what council dept. should i ring up about this?

sorry for length/incoherency.

alexakasloth · 20 Mar 2006 at 19:07

Don't have a clue about the council bit but it would be worth it taking pictures if you want to go the police route.

mejinks · 20 Mar 2006 at 21:38

Keep a diary of events, report them time and time again to the police, they (police) will soon get fed up and may do something about it. Get the landlord to repair the boundry and if you put things like barbed wiring/broken glass on the top, make sure you have a nice big sign up warning them that there is a chance they will be injured if climbing over.

Have you tried asking them not to trespass?

Sirrel Squirrel · 20 Mar 2006 at 21:44

Can you not lock the gate yourself?

MasterMike · 20 Mar 2006 at 21:47

mejinks said:
Have you tried asking them not to trespass?

Frankly a joke. They'd just throw stones at us.

Sirrel Squirrel said:
Can you not lock the gate yourself?

We've been tempted to, but I'm not sure of the legality of it.

pinkacidbootson · 20 Mar 2006 at 21:49

Get some cctv cameras, a large dog, some of that greasy black paint and some a sword. What you do with these items is up to you, but taking the law into your own hands is sometimes the only option when it comes to chav scrotes (im assuming they are chav ascrotes who are doing this)

Lord Pablo · 20 Mar 2006 at 21:57

i have a couple of swords, some shuriken darts, an air rifle and the most deadly, a compound bow.

thing is, cant use them without being put away myself.

might invest in a paintball marker, then i would have no qualms in shooting the buggers

tom_e · 20 Mar 2006 at 22:04

you could probably still be put away as it would be classed as some sort of assault with a wepon and you could do them some serious injury if you hit them in the face

Lord Pablo · 20 Mar 2006 at 22:09

ah, but i cant help it if im repairing/cleaning my gun and they happen to cross its path

Sirrel Squirrel · 20 Mar 2006 at 22:20

Lord Pablo said:
ah, but i cant help it if im repairing/cleaning my gun and they happen to cross its path

Didn't they change the law or update it saying that you're allowed to hit a burgler once by any means necessary, so if you keep an air rifle or something similar under your bed then you'd be allowed to use it if someone broke into your home

Shotgun_ned · 20 Mar 2006 at 22:32

Sirrel Squirrel said:
Didn't they change the law or update it saying that you're allowed to hit a burgler once by any means necessary, so if you keep an air rifle or something similar under your bed then you'd be allowed to use it if someone broke into your home

You can hit them as many times as you want if they wont back down - you can use "Reasonable force", which is nice and vague. Basically if they're down or trying to run away you can't keep attacking them but if they're still a threat you can do whatever it takes to remove that threat. They didn't change it, they just re-emphasised the current laws.

However in this case, seeing as they aren't threatening you physically or actually in your home I don't think you'd be able to do anything. Also since they're kids I don't think you'd be able to get away with doing too much anyway.

Doonhamer · 20 Mar 2006 at 22:50

Buy some motion activated sprinklers or something, that will keep em out.

paul@ · 20 Mar 2006 at 23:18

Chain and padlock the gate.

Don't worry too much about the council.

Sirrel Squirrel · 20 Mar 2006 at 23:28

Shotgun_ned said:
However in this case, seeing as they aren't threatening you physically or actually in your home I don't think you'd be able to do anything. Also since they're kids I don't think you'd be able to get away with doing too much anyway.

Yeah I know you can't do anything in this case, but if they are actually inside your home like a burgler, you can do whatever you want

I still stand by what I say about putting a lock on the gate though

Lord Pablo · 20 Mar 2006 at 23:31

we have considered it, but like Mike stated, we dont knwo where we stand as its a council gate.

ive found numbers for the council so i'll give them a ring tomorrow if i remember.

defineatly going to photograph the damage.

penski · 20 Mar 2006 at 23:32

Buy a pitbull, keep it in the garden and double-wrap an elastic band on it's willy.

*n

Lord Pablo · 20 Mar 2006 at 23:33

and make its willy fall off? cruelty!

Al Vallario · 20 Mar 2006 at 23:42

Lord Pablo said:
and make its willy fall off? cruelty!

Not quite, just make it very angry

penski · 20 Mar 2006 at 23:56

I'm sure it's an old Billy Connolly quote...

Ahah!

A thing I havn't noticed in England, which is a very, very good thing - that is, a good thing you haven't got it. It's in Scotland they say,

"Well that's all from television tonight. I bid you all a very, very good night, and especially those of you who live alone."

He'll have just reminded them. Some of them are terrifying, they say,

"And those of you, who live alone, don't forget to lock all... lock the windows."

And stuff like that,

"And make sure the flamethrower is working. and the dobermann pincher got the elastic band round the willy. Don't let it nod off."

"Oh no, oh nooo.."

You're sitting there.

And I've always wanted to be in charge of that bit of the program. I'd say,

"Especially those of you, who live alone. Who-ho-ho-ho-ho-hoo. For gods sake don't look behind you! Don't turn around!"

Another one they do, they say

"That's all tonight, and I hope you enjoyed the programmes, as much as we did. We also enjoyed them the first time around and... yes it's been great fun. And in the interest of safety, don't forget to switch off your tv before you go to bed. And for supersafety, take the plug out of the wall, alltogether. 'Cause the house could go on fire, and the whole family could be barbecued."

And I say, all right, I must do it. If I was the guy doing that... I'd sit at the desk, going

"Right, right, right, right you'd be near the telly, you'd be stretching his hand out to put it off."

"LEAVE IT ALONE! Do as your told. Get back to your seat, I'm not finished."

*n