I've recently moved to Devonshire Rd and in the last week I've already seen the evidence of some spiteful, mindless vandalism. Every day I walk down Dev Rd to get to the station, and on my first walk to the station I noticed a lovely BMW M5 parked in one of the drive ways. At worst I was envious of the owner and his awesome car but at the same time pleased that I would get a peek every day as I walked to work. On my way home from town the other day I walked past his car and noticed that someone had keyed it right the way down the length of the boot. I stood there for a moment and wondered what had driven the vandal to deface such a great car. Spite, jealousy and boredom sprang to mind. I would have to live my life once over to be able to afford a car like that and even if I did have the money I still wouldn't own it in London. Some people have no respect for other peoples property and until that changes, random acts of vandalism will continue up and down the country. This is no worse than what Liza suffered (post number 11), and I have great sympathy for anyone who has suffered in this way at the hands of others. I had my ?400 Ford Fiesta stolen 2 years ago from outside my house in Elephant & Castle and it still riles me when I think about it. I have often thought about how I would react if I caught someone in the act of damaging my property and I know deep down that my natural reaction would be to teach them a lesson*. Your average 16 year old chav treats a police warning with contempt and sees an ASBO as a badge of honour. I am not a violent person and I've never hurt anyone other than in self defence but sometimes you need to stand up and be counted and if that means doing the wrong thing for the right reasons then so be it.

*I am not condoning vigilantism, just the right to use reasonable force when your well being - or the well being of your possessions - is under threat.