Hooligans desecrate dead man's memorial
After the calm, the storm.
While Hailsham police reassured people the murder of Gary Rae did not mean the town's streets were unsafe, a bunch of yobs ran riot, smashing shop windows and desecrating the murdered man's memorial.
Officers explained how the town fell quiet last week, possibly reflecting a sense of outrage and sadness at the unnecessary death of a young man.
Then as the weekend approached all hell was let loose again.
And Hailsham Chamber of Commerce chairman Robin Kemp rammed home the view of local residents that Hailsham was inadequately policed, in spite of what police spokesmen might say.
Just after 4.30pm on Friday a call came through from the High Street to say flowers that had been left in memory of Gary near the War Memorial had been strewn across the concrete.
Next to take a hit was the town council office at The Inglenook where three panes of glass in the front door were broken.
At the same time big plate glass windows to High Street businesses Buckmasters, The Three Cooks and travel agent Thomas Cook were also smashed.
While police were dealing with these incidents, a call came through to say windows at the Christian Fellowship had also been smashed and a youth had thrown a bollard through the windscreen of a car.
The violence continued with witnesses calling to say two youths walked past the front of the Golden House Chinese restaurant in Station Road and calmly smashed the window with a drainpipe.
The first is described as white, about 5ft 9in and of medium build wearing a light blue sleeveless top and dark trousers.
The second was also white, aged 20-24, about 5ft 8in-5ft 10in, heavily built and wearing a short-sleeved shirt with horizontal stripes across the chest and dark coloured, long trousers.
Incidents got even more bizarre as the night wore on.
Someone smashed the window of The Homely Maid caf and snatched a white plastic tray laden with pizzas, cheese straws and pies.
Crime prevention officer Dave Smith said there had been a relative period of calm immediately after the killing.
He believed the number of police enquiries and sheer police presence in the area had an immediate effect on local crime. 'Our local yobs have clearly been making up for lost time,' he said.
Robin Kemp, who runs Oakenshield Furniture in Vicarage Road, said: 'I have enormous respect for the police but they are just not available when and where they ought to be.
'If you say anything to Bob Brown he'll say it's a matter of resources but we could tell him it's just a matter of having a police presence in the High Street at these critical times.
'I also live in Vicarage Road and it is an exception if we don't get loud voices and shouting outside late at night.
'The perception of people here is that police are in their cars or sitting on computers, not out in our high streets on weekend evenings which is where we want to see them.'
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Weather for Lewes
Thursday 24 May 2012
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