Tag Archive for: Vandalism

Arrests After Golf Course Vandalism

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Arrests After Golf Course Vandalism: Two men have been arrested and charged in relation to vandalism at a golf club in Oamaru.

The North Otago Golf Club was vandalised overnight on Saturday when a 4WD vehicle was driven over several of the club’s fairways and greens.

Sergeant Blair Corlet confirmed men, aged 25 and 22, had been charged with burglary, and unlawfully interfering with a motor vehicle.

The 25-year-old, the alleged driver of the 4WD, had also been charged with intentional damage.

Club secretary Julia Knight said security footage showed one person appearing to try break into the club’s green-fee box.

“Luckily our green-fee box is very well secured so they couldn’t get into that,” she said.

The footage then showed what appeared to be a man trying to unsuccessfully hotwire one of the golf buggies.

Knight said a 4WD could then be seen driving about the clubhouse side of the course.

“It’s a substantial mess,” she said.

“Then they got in their big 4WD and broke down one of the fences and got onto to the course.

“They ran over greens and snapped about four pins that are in the greens and knocked over about three or four signs.

“Then they demolished one of the sheds … and then they did donuts around the course and made a real mess. The ground’s very soft at the moment because of all the rain.

“They’ve probably driven over at least half the fairways on that side of the course. We’ve got 14 holes on that side and they actually went to the furthest point, which is where the shed was.”

Knight said the club only has one greenkeeper, and the rest of those who look after the grounds are volunteers. Pleasingly, she said the course was still usable.

“It’s very pleasing too that we’ve got good cameras and we picked the two guys up on the cameras.

“We’ve got our greenkeeper assessing the cost at the moment.”

Corlet said the men will appear in the Oamaru District Court next Wednesday.

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Brechin Pitch Vandalism Anger

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Brechin Pitch Vandalism Anger: Vandals have targeted an all-weather football pitch in Brechin, ruining the good work of local volunteers.

The fence around the the synthetic pitch and enclosure at the town’s Inch Park was cut open and a set of goalposts were torn down.

The attack comes after the Inch Maintenance and Preservation Society (Imps) took over caring for the site in September and raised £5,000 to bring it back up to standard.

The vandalism that happened in Brechin.Members of the community and local businesses got involved in the campaign and helped get the football ground back in shape with the help of Angus Council.

It is one of a series of environmental projects across the town which the group has taken on.

Imps chairman George Garden said members were disheartened and frustrated by the weekend attack.

“There was a lot of community backing and we are disappointed that the park has been the subject of vandalism,” he said.

“It’s extremely disheartening because there was a lot of hard work undertaken and it really knocks you back – it’s incredibly frustrating.”

The pitch is rented out to local clubs most week nights and opens for community use at the weekends.

Mr Garden said the public had access from Saturday morning until Monday morning so there was no need for anyone to cut the fence to get inside.

The charity has also recently taken over ownership of the public toilets at Inch Park and has been working on bringing them up to scratch so they can be re-opened.

However, Mr Garden said the vandalism at the synthetic pitch had left him questioning whether it was worth going ahead with the plan in case the toilets are targeted too.

The Imps group was created following a successful effort to bring Brechin’s paddling pool back into use after it was set to close due to high maintenance costs.

North Angus and Mearns SNP MSP Mairi Gougeon said the damage at the astro pitch was extremely disappointing.

“Imps are a hugely active community group who have done a tremendous amount of work in the past few years to fundraise and carry out improvements to facilities in and around the Inch Park area in Brechin,” she said.

“They also took on the toilets and paddling pool and I know they have ambitions to do even more for Brechin so I desperately hope they don’t become disheartened by this appalling incident.

“Vandalism is a mindless and selfish act and it’s appalling to see an act like this happen when so much work has been done by the community to keep these facilities going.”

Police are appealing for information on the incident. Anyone with information is urged to call 101 or speak to any officer.

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Football Club Bemoans Vandalism

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Football Club Bemoans Vandalism: Damage to football pitches at Awamoa Park in Oamaru is something the young players who use the fields should not have to contend with, Awamoa Football Club president Twyla Kingan says.

Speaking to the Otago Daily Times yesterday she confirmed at least one vehicle entered the park on Friday night, at the intersection of Awamoa Rd and State Highway 1, and did several burnouts on and around one of the park’s several playing surfaces.

The damage to the home of the Awamoa Football Club’s junior players, which resulted in large chunks of grass and earth being gouged out of the ground, was met with dismay by Mrs Kingan who said it was not the first time the park had been targeted by vandals.

”It’s disappointing … you look around on Saturday morning at the park and you see a good hundred kids out there enjoying playing with their friends. It’s unfortunate they get hampered by the damage.

”The most damage was just off the pitch and some in the middle of the pitch … you don’t want to see kids tripping up.”

While consideration was given to moving some games to the Oamaru Showgrounds, where Meadowbank United is based, all fixtures went ahead as planned after minor groundkeeping work.

Earlier this week, the club discussed, with the Waitaki District Council, the possibility of installing wooden bollards and chains to keep vehicles out of the park, which Mrs Kingan hoped would deter vandals.

Sergeant Tony Woodbridge, of Oamaru, said cases of parks and reserves being intentionally damaged by vehicles happened ”once or twice a year” and police were investigating Friday night’s incident.

Police were reviewing CCTV footage and the offenders would be prosecuted if located, he said.

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Club’s Anger At Pitch Vandalism

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Club’s Anger At Pitch Vandalism: The manager of an award-winning junior football team due to be visited by Real Madrid’s Youth Academy has spoken of his club’s frustration at constant vandalism to its pitches.

He spoke out following an announcement by police that one of the drivers who allegedly damaged the pitch has been reported for their act of vandalism.

The pitches, at the junction of Woodhead Road and Summerville Road in Lidget Green, have been plagued by vandals riding quad bikes, motorbikes and now 4×4 vehicles for at least the past five years, said Alpha United Juniors manager Mohammed Waheed.

Mr Waheed welcomed the work by the police being done to tackle anti-social behaviour on the fields, but said more action was necessary.

He said: “It’s been a huge problem for the club when you have this behaviour from people on quads, bikes and now cars.

“They create deep grooves and must be doing various manoeuvres when they are on the pitches.

“It is making us cancel matches and training and had to report it to the league to explain why we were cancelling so many games.

“Ultimately it affects the children who just want to play and takes it away from them, and makes us question if we can run a club in the area.

“It is not a great advert for the area and as a double national award-winning club it does not help when this is happening.

“The risk of getting injured is so much higher and opposition clubs do not want to risk playing on the pitch.

“We have Real Madrid’s Youth Academy Clinic coming next week too, to do sessions for the children.”

Mr Waheed said the club had been pushing for obstacles to be put in to stop vandals getting on the pitches.

“We have been asking for barriers to be put up around the pitch and to cut off the exit points to try and stop people getting on,” he continued.

“We have been reporting these problems for at least five years, and local residents have told us it has been going on for longer.

“Something needs to be done about it, we have had backing from the West Riding FA for barriers, they recognise the work we do in the community and want to help.”

Mr Waheed thanked police for catching one of the suspects who had damaged the pitches.

Officers in Bradford West identified the driver of a Mitsubishi Shogun, who had been seen driving across the pitch, thanks to help from members of the public.

The driver has been reported for inconsiderate driving in a public place.

A Facebook post from Bradford West NPT said: “Anti-social use of this particular field is being closely monitored by the ASB bike team who are in direct communication with residents.

“Vehicles are for roads, not football pitches!”

Mr Waheed added: “It’s good to see action being taken and more patrols from the Anti-Social Behaviour team being carried out, but more still needs to be done to catch the people responsible for this.”

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