Vandals' vehicle wrecking spree puts east Hull used car dealer out of business
THE owner of a used car dealership in Hull says he is being forced to close down after 23 of his vehicles were vandalised in a wrecking spree.
Pete White says 21 of the damaged cars are beyond repair and estimates the attack could cost him up to £30,000.
He believes a customer with a vendetta could be responsible for the vandalism, which saw:
84 tyres slashed.
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Front and back seats slashed.
Wiper and indicator sticks snapped off.
Dashboard vents kicked in.
Paint stripper poured over roofs.
Panels scratched.
Mr White, who only launched Cars 4 Less, near Plimsoll Ship Inn, in Witham, east Hull, six months ago, said: "This was not vandalism carried out by 16-year-olds.
"You can tell by the type of damage that whoever did this knew exactly what they were doing and how to inflict maximum damage."
Mr White, who did not want to be pictured by the Mail for fear of possible recriminations, says he left the business at 5pm on Monday and discovered the damage at 9am the next day.
He said: "I felt like crying.
"When I turned up, I saw a couple of tyres had been slashed. I could deal with that. Then I walked around and saw the other damage. I was totting up the damage."
Mr White, of east Hull, believes £10,000 of damage was caused, although he says the cars, if sold, could have fetched £30,000.
He said: "We have not been open long and were just starting to make money.
"It's just not worth getting the cars repaired. It could happen again.
"If it was just one or two cars I could get them repaired.
"But it would take a month or two to get all these cars re-sprayed and back into saleable condition. I am going to cut my losses and sell the cars for scrap – I might get a couple of hundred quid for each one.
"That's the end of the business."
Wiring that feeds a security floodlight had been cut by the vandals, said Mr White.
Damage was caused to four Vauxhalls, four Renaults, three Fiats, three Fords, two Nissans, two Skodas, one Volvo, one Land Rover, one Mini, one Mercedes and one Hyundai.
A Humberside Police spokeswoman said: "A number of cars were damaged at Cars 4 Less in Witham between 5pm on March 11 and 9am on March 12.
"It is estimated about 23 cars were damaged and anyone with information can call 101, quoting crime reference 1962633."
18 Comments
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by gangmanstyle
Friday, April 05 2013, 10:48PM
“Shouldn't sell £200 scrap value cars with dodgy mots for 5 times that amount then ay”
by Bumblebeard
Tuesday, March 19 2013, 6:37AM
“Not the old classic tale of a back street potentially dodgy car dealer selling a "pup" to a disgruntled customer who in turn takes revenge - well I never!?”
by Hunnyb_2252
Saturday, March 16 2013, 8:13AM
“The other post should have read "If Mr White had had a couple of Rottweillers, this could have been a different story again, the dogs would have ripped the vandal to shreds and Mr White would be up at court facing assault charges. However, having two Rottweillers there would have been a better defence than the electrical alarm systems we all know and hate!!" As for the CCTV cameras, do they ever work? The controller is probably sat there with a cup of tea and a cream bun watching sport or porn on one of the other TVs.
Read more: http://tinyurl.com/bunnaoe
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by Hunnyb_2252
Saturday, March 16 2013, 8:01AM
“If he had had a couple of Rottweillers, this could have been a different story again, the dogs would have ripped the vandal to shreds and Mr Pattison would be up at court facing assault charges as well as for drug trafficking charges. And still, he would have received a stiffer sentence for drugs than he would for assault. However, having two Rottweillers there would have been a better defence than the electrical alarm systems we all know and hate!!”
by thesnooper
Friday, March 15 2013, 11:12PM
“@ onthefence
What has happened to the city CCTV system???
ive seen loads of cameras either plane spotting or looking directly at the ground, one camera was like it for months until i emailed them and asked are these things supposed to cut crime because this particular camera has been watching ants for months and therefore not monitored, i didnt get a reply but the camera moved”
by thejuggernaut
Friday, March 15 2013, 8:55PM
“pity he didnt have a couple of rotties roaming loose.”
by sabboo
Friday, March 15 2013, 7:58PM
“how many disgruntled customers does this business need to have for them to not know outright who has done it? this whole article smells of fish!!!!”
by Northern_Red
Friday, March 15 2013, 6:19PM
“by onthefenceFriday, March 15 2013, 5:55PM
"In this past week alone there have been assaults, attempted rapes, thefts and vandalism all on main road areas. What has happened to the city CCTV system???"
It`s too busy trying to catch bus laner`s and other traffic infringements....”
by onthefence
Friday, March 15 2013, 5:55PM
“In this past week alone there have been assaults, attempted rapes, thefts and vandalism all on main road areas. What has happened to the city CCTV system???”
by killer127
Friday, March 15 2013, 4:28PM
“This is totally dreadful, whoever did this wants locking up, but will probably be sent on a Caribbean cruise as punishment, probably come from a broken home and have never ever been in trouble (insert caught) before "honest", but 1 question, have the police forgotten how to count?
"It is estimated about 23 cars were damaged"
Surely they must need to know exactly how many for a detailed police report or insurance claim.”