Sponsored by
Graffiti vandals – sentence 'too soft'
A SCARBOROUGH councillor has hit out at the sentence given to the town's notorious "Skeet" graffiti vandals, branding it a "slap on the wrists".
Cllr Andrew Backhouse has now called on the perpetrator, 22-year-old Daniel Haynes, to publicly hand over a cheque to the council covering the 1,860 cost of the clean-up.
Haynes, of Chatsworth Gardens, and accomplice Martin Agar, 21, of North Marine Road, daubed the “calling card” in red and yellow paint at locations in the North Bay area.
They were sentenced to 100 hours’ unpaid work in the community by Scarborough magistrates on Thursday after admitting criminal damage.
But while Cllr Backhouse welcomed the “naming and shaming” of the vandals, he believes their punishment did not reflect the gravity of the situation.
He said: “Once again the judicial system has failed the community. I feel the sentence does not grasp the sensitivity of the issue and amounts, effectively, to a slap on the wrists.
“It was said in magistrates’ court that Daniel Haynes had saved up 1,000 towards the damage. He should have to pay that to the council in a transparent, public handover.”
Scarborough Council has chosen to take its own legal action to recoup the cost of the graffiti removal.
Cllr Backhouse, the council’s cabinet member for the environment, pledged a 50 reward for information leading to the prosecution of the culprits.
The amount was matched by the Evening News and eventually reached 1,000 thanks to a host of anonymous donors.
One of the donors said: “Many people in Scarborough are saddened to see mindless desecration of our town. While this prosecution will only go a small way towards tackling the problems, hopefully it will send out a warning to others to carefully consider how their actions affect others.”
Checks are now being made with the police to see if a woman, who named Haynes and Agar as the culprits after she was accused of the crime, qualifies to receive the reward.
Cllr Backhouse said the possibility of introducing a rolling reward scheme being put in place to help catch future graffiti vandals was being discussed.
He added: “It is a sad reflection of our times that such a scheme is necessary but if it gets results that is the main thing.”
What do you think of the sentence?
Email us: letters@scarborougheveningnews.co.uk
Write to: Evening News, Aberdeen Walk, Scarborough, Y011 1BB.
Text us: Text the word SENEDITOR and send with your message to 81800 (25p charge plus standard national rate. See terms in Public Notices)
Join the website Forum debate at www.scarborougheveningnews.co.uk
Email to a friend
Print this page
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Scarborough
Thursday 09 February 2012
Today
Light snow
Temperature: 0 C to 1 C
Wind Speed: 12 mph
Wind direction: South
Tomorrow
Light snow
Temperature: -2 C to 3 C
Wind Speed: 20 mph
Wind direction: South
