June 30 2004

Tryst Williams, The Western Mail

AN ACT of vandalism takes place somewhere in Wales once every seven-and-a-half minutes on average and is costing millions of pounds.

Shocking figures for April and May this year are revealed today in official statistics kept by Wales' four police forces.

During that two-month period, 11,884 incidents of criminal damage were recorded.

And over the past year the cost to Wales of acts of criminal damage - which encompasses crimes ranging from vandalism and graffiti to arson - could be as high as £22m.

The most recent annual figures released by the police forces of Gwent, Dyfed-Powys, South Wales and North Wales, show 65,600 incidents of criminal damage were recorded between April 2003 and March 2004.

And across the UK, a one-day snapshot in September 2003 revealed that the problem was costing agencies such as the police and local authorities £2.6m a day - or £340 per incident.

Based on that figure, the problem would be costing Wales alone more than £22m each year.

The kinds of incidents being dealt with across Wales on a daily basis include the recent wanton destruction of a Cardiff nursery school's £3,000 wild garden, and an arson attack that destroyed nearly half-a-century of history when it ripped through a Merthyr Tydfil sports pavilion last week.

Similarly, criminals armed with specialist tools carried out a bizarre and costly attack on toilets outside the Grand Pavilion, Porthcawl, on the weekend.

"This was far more than just a case of someone spraying graffiti on a wall," said Bridgend County Borough councillor Patricia Hacking.

"Whoever did this came prepared. They disconnected U-bends in the toilets and sinks, jammed them with paper towels, then reconnected the system and let it all overflow.

"The attackers also dismantled hand dryers and systematically broke them down into component parts, tore toilet roll holders and soap dispensers off walls, smashed windows and destroyed lights and closet doors.

"Both the male and female toilets were targeted in the attack and it seems that the vandals did half of the damage on Saturday, then returned on Sunday night to finish the job.

"We're in the middle of a busy tourist season and the toilets are checked every two hours.

"When the first round of damage was discovered, council staff worked late into Saturday night to get it all cleaned up and repaired so the toilets could re-open again in the morning. But on Sunday night the vandals returned to finish what they had started."

While the meticulousness of the damage was unusual, the result was depressingly similar to the scores of other cases of criminal damage that take place each day up and down the country.

Ms Hacking added, "Whoever did this is only hitting themselves in the pocket, as the repair bill is likely to be in the thousands and will have to be paid for by local taxpayers."

Criminology lecturer Michael Teague, of the University of Wales, Newport, said, "For a living I look at crime figures on a regular basis, so I'm unable to feign surprise - but I would guess that anyone who doesn't may well feel that this is a surprise."

Mr Teague said the many instances of criminal damage appeared to depend on the type of incident carried out.

Unstructured, random acts tended to spring from boredom and a lack of facilities while acts such as elaborate graffiti tended to be carried out by talented, status-seeking individuals who felt excluded.

But he said statistics such as those contained in the annual British Crime Survey seemed to suggest reported crime had fallen during the past five years.

Meanwhile, elsewhere in Wales, officials at Cardiff County Council have implemented a range of initiatives to deal with the costly problem of criminal damage.

Among the measures introduced have been the use of Anti-social Behaviour Orders, building "teen shelters" and skate parks for young people, and a new graffiti-busting bus, which uses the labour of people carrying out community punishment orders.

Stephen Chapman, the council's operational manager for equalities and community safety, said, "If you talk to people in the areas where these initiatives are taking place then they will say they're working."