Leader comment: Car vandals must be punished

CARs are pretty vulnerable to being damaged. Even people who have garages rarely use them to keep cars in, so there are thousands of cars parked on streets every day and every night, and that makes them easy prey.
By The Newsroom
Published 18th Feb 2017, 05:00 BST
Updated 28th Feb 2017, 11:05 BST
Car vandalism along East Trinity Road and Cragil Terrace. Picture Ian GeorgesonCar vandalism along East Trinity Road and Cragil Terrace. Picture Ian Georgeson
Car vandalism along East Trinity Road and Cragil Terrace. Picture Ian Georgeson

There is a lot of glass, easily broken bits like aerials and shiny paintwork, damage can be very visible.

There is perhaps a sort of feeling at the back of the minds of the vandals who target them, assuming anything is going on in the minds of the vandals that target them, that cars are insured so there is no real victim here.

They could not be more wrong.

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Cars are also now very expensive pieces of kit. An electric folding wing mirror will cost up to £300 to replace. Replacing a windscreen can cost even more.

For most people the excess on their insurance will be £250 or more, and if they do claim of course it will affect any no claims bonus and drive up the cost of insurance when they come to renew.

And then there is all the hassle of cleaning up the mess, organising repairs and having the car off the road while it gets fixed.

It is vital that the attackers are identified and there are penalties sufficiently heavy to deter them and others from these criminal actions.