Kids vandalise couple's home in month-long spree knocking £300,000 off its value
Seven children who ransacked a £1.2million Grade II listed home have appeared in court after causing damage which has taken £300,000 off the home's value.
During a month-long spree of vandalism the youngsters, who are as young as 11, grabbed chainsaws, axes and sledgehammers from the garage and used them in every one of the six bedrooms, leaving it in what has been described as looking like 'a war zone'. They smashed ornate stained glass window, a double glazed conservatory door and numerous other handmade hardwood doors - some of which were more than 100 years old.
Inside the house belonging to Joanna and Matt Pittard, a grandfather clock was pushed over and completely smashed, a 5ft-wide wrought-iron chandelier was damaged, paintings hung on the wall had been broken up and left on the floor, messages were carved into mahogany window sills and the youngsters even pulled taps off leaving water gushing everywhere. The couple also found glass scattered everywhere and graffiti scrawled on walls.
The Pittards, who currently live in Newbury, Berkshire, had bought the home on the Isle of Wight to live in with their two daughters, but the gang, which included two girls, left hardly anything untouched squirting ketchup, bleach and paint throughout the property between May and June last year, even destroying Mrs Pittard's wedding dress by covering it in oil, nail vanish and footprints.
Seven perpetrators, who are now all aged between 13 and 16 and cannot be named for legal reasons, admitted criminal damage to property at Isle of Wight magistrates' court, where they were each fined £1,500. Ann Smout, for the prosecution, said the offences took place at the 'substantial' building in Shanklin. "Joanna and Matt Pittard were at that address over Easter in April 2022. They had a week there and left the property clean and tidy and in very, very good order". The court heard the family was then away from the house for about a month, when the damage was caused.
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The home was in Rectory Road, Shanklin (Google)The prosecutor told the court that now 16 months on from the vandalism the value of the property by an estimated £300,000. There are still windows boarded up and scaffolding covering the exterior. Neighbours say they still can't comprehend the sheer amount of damage that was caused.
One neighbour told the Daily Mail: "We were in the garden and we heard breaking glass so being a very close neighbourhood, my husband went across with another neighbour and he could see things being thrown through closed windows. He shouted up 'We have called the police whoever you are' and I phoned the police and described everything that happened. My husband saw the young people leave and he said they had a smug look on their faces."
In a statement read to the court, Mrs Pittard said that the damage was heartbreaking and she recounted what she called an horrendous experience of filling skips with their own belongings. She added in a more recent statement that the now boarded-up house was still in chaos and she "would never fully recover from the experience".
In interviews with police, the youngsters admitted to various degrees of involvement in their impulsive damage, with one revealing they had created a 'slip and slide' in the bathroom. In mitigation, the court was told that the teenagers had expressed their regret and remorse and had all reportedly shown improvements in their behaviour and attitude since.
Keith Jones, chairman of the magistrates, said he was lost for words at their disgraceful behaviour. Addressing six of the teenagers, after the case of one was adjourned, he said: "We will never know who did what or exactly what happened. You are charged as joint enterprise so you are equally responsible. It is a poor reflection on the six of you."
The teenagers were handed a 12-month referral order and ordered to pay the couple compensation for the "very personal impact on the family involved". "This is imposed on your parents, but you owe that figure to your parents. We certainly don't want to see any of you back here again."
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