AssetID: 55704529
Headline: ‘Nightmare’ footage shows ‘really young’ vandals smashing up cars with hammer
Caption: **VIDEO AVAILABLE. CONTACT INFO@COVERMG.COM TO RECEIVE.** WORDS BYLINE: Charlotte Phillips Shocking CCTV footage has captured two “really young” vandals smashing multiple cars with hammers in a frenzy of “pointless” violence. At least six cars are believed to have been targeted in the spree which unfolded in the middle of the night in Sittingbourne, Kent last Sunday. Between 1am and 1:45am on May 10, two figures were filmed smashing the windscreens and windows of cars parked along Canterbury Road and Terrace Road. One of the victims, a mum-of-two who does not wish to be named, says her husband’s car was among those targeted - and it had its entire windscreen smashed. “It’s just really frustrating,” she said. “Unfortunately, the only thing that isn’t covered on his insurance is the windscreen so it’s going to cost more than £1000 to fix next week. “It just has a huge impact on people’s lives. One of my neighbours has lost a week’s work because he hasn’t been able to get his car fixed.” The footage from her security camera is unclear, but shows two people attacking vehicles in the street. “All you see is two figures, one in light grey tracksuit the other dark clothing,” she said. Another resident affected was mum-of-two Kelly Bellevue, who had the driver’s side window and windscreen of her Hyundai smashed. The 48-year-old said: “It’s really annoying because I was about to go to church. A neighbour ran down that morning and told me my car had been smashed. I then had to spend my morning hoovering that out rather than going to church. “The front windscreen has been smashed right in the driver's view so it's illegal to drive it, which means I've got to wait for someone to come here and they can't do it until May 20. “My daughter actually sprained her ankle at school on Wednesday and I couldn't go and pick her up so she had to hobble home. It’s been a nightmare.” She is still waiting to hear back from her insurance company about what will be covered and says she has no idea how much the final repair bill will be. Kelly, who has lived in the road since 2014, thinks the CCTV footage shows two people with “what appears to be a hammer”. “You can't really see the outline of them, they run fast and they look really young,” she said. “I never usually park up that end, and I've never had any trouble on this road. I don't know how mine got done on both sides, they must have had a hammer each”. The mum, who works at a nursery, will also have to take time off work while the repairs take place which will mean she will lose out on £140 in wages. In the meantime, she will not be able to take her 14-year-old daughter to her aqua and ballet classes. “I’m a taxi, because they're teenagers,” she said. “So they can't go anywhere for the next two weeks, they're not impressed. It's a principle of respecting people's property. If that was my kids I’d be mortified. Why are the parents not aware that their kids are out at 1.30am in the morning? We were all asleep. Where did they get a hammer from, if it was a hammer? Whatever they used managed to cause a lot of damage.” Nicola Davey’s Ford Focus also had its windscreen hit several times in nearby Canterbury Road. “It’s been awful knowing my grandchildren’s car seats are in the car, which are covered with shards of glass,” the 56-year-old said. “The damage means I can’t drive my car and am unable to get it repaired until May 30. This impacts my commute to work in Gillingham and my weekend shopping. “The damage is potentially £115 excess for a new windscreen, however the damage to the door passenger side I wont get fixed due to the price or premium increase. “It was pointless vandalism for fun as nothing was taken from my car.” A police spokesperson has confirmed the force was called to reports of multiple cars being damaged in Terrace Road.
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PersonInImage: The attacks were caught on CCTV