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Broken Window
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Holly


Posts: 32
Joined: Mar 2008
Post: #1
11-10-2008 07:31 AM

Last night just before ten a brick was thrown through my kitchen window while i was in the room. Apart from the obvious shock, this is the third time it has happend this year. I understand that living on the south circular brings its problems but wasn't expecting to have to replace a window every few months at ?200 a time which we don't have.Cursing

When we asked the bouncers at the hob if they had seen anything, apparently there was a group of teenagers on bikes holding up traffic and just causing havoc, our flat just seemed to be in the way.

So now my rant is over, did anyone else see anything? and are we the only people this seems to happen to?

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JaneD


Posts: 29
Joined: Jun 2008
Post: #2
11-10-2008 10:48 AM

Sorry to hear about your horrible experience, Holly.

We were walking past the Hob last night at about 9.45 and walked through a crowd of teenage boys who were running around and shouting on the pavement and in the road. They didn't look particularly aggressive, just a bit unruly. No idea whether one of them threw the brick or not, but the timing would be right.

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billham


Posts: 115
Joined: Nov 2007
Post: #3
11-10-2008 01:05 PM

Sorry to hear of your experience Holly. As someone who has had missiles through a window on a couple of occasions in the 20 odd years I have lived here (though I am not particularly close to the South Circ) I know how disturbing it can be. Having to pay to repair the damage, especially in these difficult times, doesn't ease the pain either!

On one of the occasions my window was actually broken by a large round object fired from some kind of air rifle. This thing could have maimed or killed so I went to Catford Police Station with unbroken pellets that had bounced back off our building!! To cut a long story short it was a complete waste of time - they simply were not interested. Maybe if I had died or been blinded they might have filed a report or sent a car.....

I sincerely hope that once you get the window fixed it doesn't happen again. Assuming this is not targetted and just random (which it sounds like it was) then it seems you have just been the very unlucky victim. Maybe some sort of strengthened glass might be an idea though?

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Holly


Posts: 32
Joined: Mar 2008
Post: #4
11-10-2008 01:18 PM

Thanks for your kind words. It does look like it was youths mucking around and we were unlucky to get hit (again) so hopefully we are not being targeted (not sure who would, don't have that many friends to p*** off)

We looked into getting our windows replaced with stronger glass however our options are limited because we are in a conservation area so the price came in at 4k. With our wedding next year this is not affordable.

The police did call me this morning to ask how I was (nine hours after the incident) not sure what they would have done if I wasn't.

Oh well, the glazers are here at the moment so things can go back to normal until the next time.Wink

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Sherwood


Posts: 1,412
Joined: Mar 2005
Post: #5
11-10-2008 02:03 PM

You could stick a special film inside the glass to hold fragments together if the glass is broken. Lots of buildings in central London had this fitted when the IRA were setting off bombs.

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ForestGump


Posts: 202
Joined: Jan 2008
Post: #6
13-10-2008 09:45 AM

It may seem daft but would not the object thrown through the window have DNA on it?

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Holly


Posts: 32
Joined: Mar 2008
Post: #7
13-10-2008 10:21 AM

It probably would have DNA on it, but unfortunately I don't have a lab and the police are less than interested. Like Billham said unless I was hit (although it was extremely close) then they don't care. In their words 'You are the 32nd call tonight we don' t have anyone avaliable to come round.'

They might send someone round in a couple of weeks to discuss my security options Yay!Glare

But in the meantime I have kept the rock and maybe in the future I can get a DNA profile of the offender and take my revenge. Sweet...

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billham


Posts: 115
Joined: Nov 2007
Post: #8
13-10-2008 11:11 AM

We recently had trouble over a period with groups of youths hanging around our (private) grounds, smoking dodgy substances and generally making a nuisance. The police response seemed to be that unless your life was in imminent danger you might as well not bother calling.

The only response I did get were innumerable follow ups from what seemed to be the crime statistics unit. This was of no use to me - they were more interested in my ethnicity and religious persuasion than anything else!!

We also had a meeting with the Neighbourhood policing team who although polite were by their own admission woefully understaffed for the area they had to cover.

Thankfully the group now seems to have found other locations.

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brian


Posts: 2,002
Joined: Apr 2005
Post: #9
13-10-2008 11:22 AM

Forest
DNA good idea if everybody compelled to give DNA . Cannot understand why this does not happen . So may crimes could be solved

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gingernuts


Posts: 505
Joined: Nov 2007
Post: #10
13-10-2008 12:40 PM

Brian,
There is of course a civil liberties issue with holding a DNA database on every innocent person in the country. Frankly my DNA is mine and mine alone. It's not to be adeed to a huge, expensive, unmanagable database that could (and probably would) get lost or sold on to who ever in the future.

What's the up side? Well even if this toe-rag gets caught what would whould she/she get? probably a caution. What we should be saying is that sentences should match the crime and that prison should be such a horrible place that no one would ever want to return.

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Elizabeth25


Posts: 212
Joined: Mar 2005
Post: #11
13-10-2008 02:00 PM

This topic is horrendous. It is hard to believe that we live in a neighborhood where random bricks get thrown through people's windows? Mad

Ok, after I send my outmost sympahthy to Holly. One practical solution may be to install metal rails outside your window? I wish we lived in a world where you didn't need to install these. But maybe metals rails would deflect projectile rocks?

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brian


Posts: 2,002
Joined: Apr 2005
Post: #12
13-10-2008 02:19 PM

I agree with Elizabeth. It is very depressing.

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