POLICE are urging parents to control their children after teenagers attacked cars and smashed sports centre windows during three nights of drunken vandalism.
The wrecking spree, which caused thousands of pounds worth of damage, began last Thursday when teenagers damaged a minibus and car and smashed a window at the changing rooms at the Les Quennevais sports centre in St Brelade.
The vandalism peaked the following night when youths damaged 15 cars, shattered two more windows at the sports centre and smashed nine windows at the neighbouring Jersey Croquet Club.
At least one car was damaged the following night.
Pictured: The windows of the Jersey Croquet Club are boarded up after being smashed
Article posted on 27th August, 2008 - 2.57pm
9 Article Comments
It shows that the Jersey police are taking after their UK counterparts, little presence and no action against criminals. How can they allow drunken vandalism to run for three nights? One session is bad enough but 3 is a display of complete apathy by the Jersey police.
I live around here, every weekend is the same,there’s is no police presence whatsoever they prefer to agravate law abiding motorists. The kids buy cheap booze from the supermarkets and go on the rampage once its dark. You would think it would be quite an easy thing to solve given the pay and resources the police receive, value for money? no.
Police want parents to look after their kids, well okay but for a minimum salary of £31000 per year shouldn’t the police be out there earning their money!!!
The only way the parents will take responsability for thier kids is to take the parents to court once the kids responsable are caught. If the parents get hit in the wallet they will make sure thier kids behave.
The police may have been in training for Jersey Live! Hence their absence on the streets, after all, 10,000 happy people in a contained field,being entertained, is a serious security risk and the island needs to be protected from this type event.
On a number of occaisions i have spoken to teenagers in Gorey, Les Quennevais and on the streets of St Helier. They are bored and sadly they are being drawn to drink, drugs and vandalism. When i think back, i enjoyed myself as a child we had Funland, Fort Regent, Bel View pleasure park, but today we need one area where our children can enjoy themselves that wont cost an arm and leg in getting there and also expenses for entrance fees as well as payin for the enjoyment on rides etc etc.. I walked around the grounds of Fort Regent the other week, remember when we used to have a ghost train, bumper cars, slides, games room, big wheel the swimming pool and the big snake slide, with the amount of space up there a skate boarding area could have also been added. I am disgusted that this place has been allowed to go to rack and ruin. This place could have quite easily been turned inside out for the children, young ones and also teenagers and also for us big kids (basically full family entertainment). Coffee shops and other amusement arcades could be added. I keep my children in, because of the amount of drink and drugs that are on the streets of today, its not safe for them to go out!
Oh how I smile when I read this it just goes to prove that we need to invest in the youth of today and not just teenagers I mean from the grass roots ie nursery schools right up to teens if we invest in them now may be in the future they will have more respect because at the end of the day these children have not got any respect for other people, their property and least of all themselves if they did they would not behave like this. I also agree that the parents are to blame as well, its too easy to give them £20. and say off you go, so heavy fines and community service should be enforced if these kids had to clean up and do community projects they may have a little more respect and if parent had to pay for the damage and disruption, they too may have a bit of respect as they obviously have none either. As for the police what were they doing playing tidly winks ? oh no sorry they were sitting watching CCTV of nothing happening !
ps. I love the comment Vroom nice one.
Give me peace, seriously! The kids are ‘bored’, well how about they do some schoolwork, get involved with charities, learn an instrument, take up sport (plenty of them are obese enough). The bored line is a cop out pure and simple. I didn’t have a computer, online access etc and my parents weren’t rich. I did not go out vandalising other people’s property and making a nuisance of myself publicly.
Name and shame these brats and name and shame the parents that fail to do their job of parenting. And yes, the police are their to stop crime and protect the public, but parents also have to do their job.
I have lived and worked in various rough areas of Glasgow and I have never witnessed the complete disrespect (for themselves and others) that I see in Jersey kids. Frankly I think your kids are spoilt brats and apparently I’m not the only person from bad areas of the UK to discover that Jersey kids are actually worse!
Get it sorted and get it sorted now. You’re breeding a bunch of brats that will not only amount to absolutely nothing at all, they’ll get pregnant at 13/14 and bring a whole other load of brats into existence, boy I can’t wait for that day!
It’s clear that far too many of the opinions on here are from people who either have teenagers that they are constantly trying to get out the house so they can have peace and quiet, or they live in some little secluded part of Jersey that keeps them out of touch with the reality that is life in Jersey.
Live right in the town area of St Helier for one night, see what really goes on.