DRUNKEN teenagers have been blamed for a wrecking spree at a Westhoughton garage -- one of TWENTY crimes at the vandal plagued firm over the last three months. Nine cars and a lorry were trashed by the thugs -- causing damage estimated at well over £5,000 -- last weekend alone. The vandals smashed the windows of the vehicles with stones, bricks and metal bars as other teenagers jumped up and down on the bonnets and roofs of the cars parked in a yard outside the premises of International Rescue off Bolton Road.
And today, as police probed the latest vandal attack, the joint owner of the Crime-ravaged firm, John Thomson, said: "The kids around here are ruling themselves. There is no one to stop them. This is just mindless damage just for the sake of it." Mr Thomson, who has run the garage and recovery business for the last 15 years, said he had to report seven different crimes to the police committed at his business in the month of September alone.
Something has to be done about this," said Mr Thomson. "It's impossible to say how much the thefts and vandalism have cost us. It will obviously run into many thousands of pounds."
He added: "It is an impossible task for the police but surely the parents of the teenagers must suspect their children are up to no good."
Insp Fred Menzies of Westhoughton Police echoed Mr Thomson's call for more parental involvement.
"We have a problem with vandalism as other areas of the borough do," said the police chief. "With regard to this particular business we are looking at the problems to see what we can do to help."
But he added: "At the end of the day it is down to discipline and parents have to be more responsible for what their children get up to.
"The Crime and Disorder Bill -- when it fully becomes law next year -- will put the responsibility on parents to take action to prevent their children getting into trouble."
Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.
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