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Have you been a victim of criminal damage and had to pay the price with losing your living?
My better half owns a Brand Name Clothing Store on our local High Street and has done so for over 8 yrs, recently a bar 400yrds up the road was granted a late night licence and now opens until 2am. Since the bar has been opening til 2am we have constantly being called out by the alarm center to deal with activity at the shop between the hrs of 1:30 am and 2:30am which led to us installing extra CCTV to cover the outside of the shop front to help deter or if necessary catch the culprits.
Since the installation of these cameras we have had the windows smashed 3 times by what can only be discribed as MINDLESS DRUNKEN YOBS.
On all 3 occassions the persons responsible were clearly caught on camera. 2 culprits were arreested within 30 mins in the town center based on the evidence record by the CCTV, the 3rd was arrested on the spot as the police were driving by as the culprit punched and smashed the window, so no evidence was required.
Each time the window is smashed it cost £280 to call out a glazer to temporaly board the window and quotes of around £500 to return at a later day to replace the glass. Totalling £780+ in damages.
We informed the police on the 3 nights that we wished to press charges and take the culprits to court for compensation.
but the police released 2 culprits the following morning with a £80 fine which went to the council and the 3rd was released the following morning after being given a caution leaving us to foot the bill of repair.
The police now tell us we can take civil action against the culprits.
To do this we need the names, date of births and addresses of the culprits but after a month still refuse to release this info and have advised us to go to the Data Protection department who have also refused to give us the info as they only give this info to a solicitor.
We asked a solicitor to do this for us who charged £75+vat.
Data Protection replied with, Yes we can look into these 3 accounts, please send a chq for £75, there is no guarantee that we will issue the info as it is at Data Protections discretion and the £75 is non refundable. We phoned Data Pro' to pay via debt card and they told us they can only accept payment from the solicitor, so we now have to pay a solicitor again to pay the data pro'.
We've now had a meeting with the chief inspector where we were looking for answers to why the police no longer police the town, after 90mins we still had no answers only excusses that covered the offices a***s.
Today my partner recieved a phone call from the police who had rang to say SORRY and as the culprits had already been charged with public order offence even though these were incorrect charges there was nothing else they could do for us.
While all this was going on we was told that the frames are too badly damages and also need replacing.
We have had to employ an Architect to draft drawings, to submit to the council for planning permission and guess what? they have refused our proposal and extended the late night licence of the bar to 2:30am.
Total cost so far for being victims of criminal damage over the past few months is £2000+ with any compensation looking very unlikely.
Total cost including new windows and frames based on 3 quotes £8000.
Our insurance company are saying our windows will soon be uninsurable which in turn leads to the alarm center no longer monitoring the shop alarm and alerting ourselves and the police of damage and intruders.
With shop front boarded up and no window displays to attract customers in, there is only one way to go and that is down down down.
Thank you for taking the time to read this long and boring thread and an even bigger thank you to everyone who has help in taking our honest living away from us, After all we are guilty of offering and providing our town with a friendly independent service.
With everything else thats going on in this country it will soon be a total waste of good land!
My better half owns a Brand Name Clothing Store on our local High Street and has done so for over 8 yrs, recently a bar 400yrds up the road was granted a late night licence and now opens until 2am. Since the bar has been opening til 2am we have constantly being called out by the alarm center to deal with activity at the shop between the hrs of 1:30 am and 2:30am which led to us installing extra CCTV to cover the outside of the shop front to help deter or if necessary catch the culprits.
Since the installation of these cameras we have had the windows smashed 3 times by what can only be discribed as MINDLESS DRUNKEN YOBS.
On all 3 occassions the persons responsible were clearly caught on camera. 2 culprits were arreested within 30 mins in the town center based on the evidence record by the CCTV, the 3rd was arrested on the spot as the police were driving by as the culprit punched and smashed the window, so no evidence was required.
Each time the window is smashed it cost £280 to call out a glazer to temporaly board the window and quotes of around £500 to return at a later day to replace the glass. Totalling £780+ in damages.
We informed the police on the 3 nights that we wished to press charges and take the culprits to court for compensation.
but the police released 2 culprits the following morning with a £80 fine which went to the council and the 3rd was released the following morning after being given a caution leaving us to foot the bill of repair.
The police now tell us we can take civil action against the culprits.
To do this we need the names, date of births and addresses of the culprits but after a month still refuse to release this info and have advised us to go to the Data Protection department who have also refused to give us the info as they only give this info to a solicitor.
We asked a solicitor to do this for us who charged £75+vat.
Data Protection replied with, Yes we can look into these 3 accounts, please send a chq for £75, there is no guarantee that we will issue the info as it is at Data Protections discretion and the £75 is non refundable. We phoned Data Pro' to pay via debt card and they told us they can only accept payment from the solicitor, so we now have to pay a solicitor again to pay the data pro'.
We've now had a meeting with the chief inspector where we were looking for answers to why the police no longer police the town, after 90mins we still had no answers only excusses that covered the offices a***s.
Today my partner recieved a phone call from the police who had rang to say SORRY and as the culprits had already been charged with public order offence even though these were incorrect charges there was nothing else they could do for us.
While all this was going on we was told that the frames are too badly damages and also need replacing.
We have had to employ an Architect to draft drawings, to submit to the council for planning permission and guess what? they have refused our proposal and extended the late night licence of the bar to 2:30am.
Total cost so far for being victims of criminal damage over the past few months is £2000+ with any compensation looking very unlikely.
Total cost including new windows and frames based on 3 quotes £8000.
Our insurance company are saying our windows will soon be uninsurable which in turn leads to the alarm center no longer monitoring the shop alarm and alerting ourselves and the police of damage and intruders.
With shop front boarded up and no window displays to attract customers in, there is only one way to go and that is down down down.
Thank you for taking the time to read this long and boring thread and an even bigger thank you to everyone who has help in taking our honest living away from us, After all we are guilty of offering and providing our town with a friendly independent service.
With everything else thats going on in this country it will soon be a total waste of good land!
That sucks, my dad used to own a newsagents but he was allowed to use shutters. I agree though the Government is all talk and no action, he had to sell it eventually at a loss because we were losing money every month with no money support or advice.
Have only just come across this part of the forum.
I have no answers or advice to give to you but do feel for you.
The problem is with this Gov they dont really want to help Small Business in any way. I dont think on the whole they even understand how S/Bs work ! Look at the VAT cut it took me 2 days to re adjust and check all my customer invoices great help that was !
If you work hard and try you get stuffed at every opportunity by the gov because you are an easy target, have something they take something, have nothing dont care, dont try, and you will be rewarded
I could rant more !
I have no answers or advice to give to you but do feel for you.
The problem is with this Gov they dont really want to help Small Business in any way. I dont think on the whole they even understand how S/Bs work ! Look at the VAT cut it took me 2 days to re adjust and check all my customer invoices great help that was !
If you work hard and try you get stuffed at every opportunity by the gov because you are an easy target, have something they take something, have nothing dont care, dont try, and you will be rewarded
I could rant more !
Believe it or not there is alot more info to this story which includes police officers missing us to cover their own mistakes etc, but i cut the long story short.
A chief inspector has today made an official apology to my partner/the shop owner for incorrectly charging the yobs, but as they have been charged can not be recharged...!
The chief inspector still refuses to give us the information we need to take civil action against the yobs. Basically because he is covering his own a**e. So our only path is to employ a solicitor to chase this up at our expence, but because the police never charged the yobs with criminal damage on our property this will be very difficult due to there being no records of the peolpe in question being arrested for thier true crimes, only records of public disorder.
Toughend glass
two windows were laminated, the other one toughend, the replacement glass that will be installed if the coucil ever grant planning permission will be made from 2 layers, outside being laminated backed up with a inner layer that will be toughend.
SHUTTERS
Our friendly council have already refused to let us install shutters, they say this is due to shutters eroding the look of the town, said we can put shutters on the inside of the window without planning permission.
So where do we go from here, well the chief inspector says there is no more they can do for us nor can they help us on these 3 cases, but we do have two options, continue to slowly move along with civil action against the yobs that we dont ever know the names of or file for compensation from the police.
We have now resubmitted revised plans to the coucil for a completely new shop front and we will be informed of their dicision in 8 weeks time, but we fear the shop will not pull though this period due to the big drop in sales caused by the shop front being completely boarded over and lokking derelict.
Big thz for reading this thread tho and for all your advice.
I will make discounts availible for you when we hopefully relaunch our high street store.
A chief inspector has today made an official apology to my partner/the shop owner for incorrectly charging the yobs, but as they have been charged can not be recharged...!
The chief inspector still refuses to give us the information we need to take civil action against the yobs. Basically because he is covering his own a**e. So our only path is to employ a solicitor to chase this up at our expence, but because the police never charged the yobs with criminal damage on our property this will be very difficult due to there being no records of the peolpe in question being arrested for thier true crimes, only records of public disorder.
Toughend glass
two windows were laminated, the other one toughend, the replacement glass that will be installed if the coucil ever grant planning permission will be made from 2 layers, outside being laminated backed up with a inner layer that will be toughend.
SHUTTERS
Our friendly council have already refused to let us install shutters, they say this is due to shutters eroding the look of the town, said we can put shutters on the inside of the window without planning permission.
So where do we go from here, well the chief inspector says there is no more they can do for us nor can they help us on these 3 cases, but we do have two options, continue to slowly move along with civil action against the yobs that we dont ever know the names of or file for compensation from the police.
We have now resubmitted revised plans to the coucil for a completely new shop front and we will be informed of their dicision in 8 weeks time, but we fear the shop will not pull though this period due to the big drop in sales caused by the shop front being completely boarded over and lokking derelict.
Big thz for reading this thread tho and for all your advice.
I will make discounts availible for you when we hopefully relaunch our high street store.
Second piece of advice would be to appeal to the higher police authorities. The local station should be able to provide information about how to do so. The suspects/yobs should have been charged with criminal damage, aswell as/instead of public disorder or what not. And I assume under that charge they would have to provide the information to the "victim" (in this case the shop owner.
As a suggestion you may want to invest in safety glass. I know this is expensive but could be worth it in the long run. Its either that or install shutters. They are actually not that expensive.
Although you should not have to do this as you think people would respect other humans, it sadly is not the case. You should be able to leave your front door open, but I wouldn't.
As a suggestion you may want to invest in safety glass. I know this is expensive but could be worth it in the long run. Its either that or install shutters. They are actually not that expensive.
Although you should not have to do this as you think people would respect other humans, it sadly is not the case. You should be able to leave your front door open, but I wouldn't.
Have quite a lot of experience with this having worked in similar enviroment.
You are able to claim back the money from them by taking civil action. In ALL circumstances when this happened with the store I managed, the police provided the information for us to carry out these proceedings, or offered to take the letter to the suspect themselves. I can't imagine they only did this because it was a large supermarket chain.
The Data Protection Act is a joke to be honest in cases like these, however there are bypasses. Taking civil action against them should give the police more than enough reason to pass on information.
You are able to claim back the money from them by taking civil action. In ALL circumstances when this happened with the store I managed, the police provided the information for us to carry out these proceedings, or offered to take the letter to the suspect themselves. I can't imagine they only did this because it was a large supermarket chain.
The Data Protection Act is a joke to be honest in cases like these, however there are bypasses. Taking civil action against them should give the police more than enough reason to pass on information.
Have you been a victim of criminal damage and had to pay the price with losing your living?
My better half owns a Brand Name Clothing Store on our local High Street and has done so for over 8 yrs, recently a bar 400yrds up the road was granted a late night licence and now opens until 2am. Since the bar has been opening til 2am we have constantly being called out by the alarm center to deal with activity at the shop between the hrs of 1:30 am and 2:30am which led to us installing extra CCTV to cover the outside of the shop front to help deter or if necessary catch the culprits.
Since the installation of these cameras we have had the windows smashed 3 times by what can only be discribed as MINDLESS DRUNKEN YOBS.
On all 3 occassions the persons responsible were clearly caught on camera. 2 culprits were arreested within 30 mins in the town center based on the evidence record by the CCTV, the 3rd was arrested on the spot as the police were driving by as the culprit punched and smashed the window, so no evidence was required.
Each time the window is smashed it cost £280 to call out a glazer to temporaly board the window and quotes of around £500 to return at a later day to replace the glass. Totalling £780+ in damages.
We informed the police on the 3 nights that we wished to press charges and take the culprits to court for compensation.
but the police released 2 culprits the following morning with a £80 fine which went to the council and the 3rd was released the following morning after being given a caution leaving us to foot the bill of repair.
The police now tell us we can take civil action against the culprits.
To do this we need the names, date of births and addresses of the culprits but after a month still refuse to release this info and have advised us to go to the Data Protection department who have also refused to give us the info as they only give this info to a solicitor.
We asked a solicitor to do this for us who charged £75+vat.
Data Protection replied with, Yes we can look into these 3 accounts, please send a chq for £75, there is no guarantee that we will issue the info as it is at Data Protections discretion and the £75 is non refundable. We phoned Data Pro' to pay via debt card and they told us they can only accept payment from the solicitor, so we now have to pay a solicitor again to pay the data pro'.
We've now had a meeting with the chief inspector where we were looking for answers to why the police no longer police the town, after 90mins we still had no answers only excusses that covered the offices a***s.
Today my partner recieved a phone call from the police who had rang to say SORRY and as the culprits had already been charged with public order offence even though these were incorrect charges there was nothing else they could do for us.
While all this was going on we was told that the frames are too badly damages and also need replacing.
We have had to employ an Architect to draft drawings, to submit to the council for planning permission and guess what? they have refused our proposal and extended the late night licence of the bar to 2:30am.
Total cost so far for being victims of criminal damage over the past few months is £2000+ with any compensation looking very unlikely.
Total cost including new windows and frames based on 3 quotes £8000.
Our insurance company are saying our windows will soon be uninsurable which in turn leads to the alarm center no longer monitoring the shop alarm and alerting ourselves and the police of damage and intruders.
With shop front boarded up and no window displays to attract customers in, there is only one way to go and that is down down down.
Thank you for taking the time to read this long and boring thread and an even bigger thank you to everyone who has help in taking our honest living away from us, After all we are guilty of offering and providing our town with a friendly independent service.
With everything else thats going on in this country it will soon be a total waste of good land!
My better half owns a Brand Name Clothing Store on our local High Street and has done so for over 8 yrs, recently a bar 400yrds up the road was granted a late night licence and now opens until 2am. Since the bar has been opening til 2am we have constantly being called out by the alarm center to deal with activity at the shop between the hrs of 1:30 am and 2:30am which led to us installing extra CCTV to cover the outside of the shop front to help deter or if necessary catch the culprits.
Since the installation of these cameras we have had the windows smashed 3 times by what can only be discribed as MINDLESS DRUNKEN YOBS.
On all 3 occassions the persons responsible were clearly caught on camera. 2 culprits were arreested within 30 mins in the town center based on the evidence record by the CCTV, the 3rd was arrested on the spot as the police were driving by as the culprit punched and smashed the window, so no evidence was required.
Each time the window is smashed it cost £280 to call out a glazer to temporaly board the window and quotes of around £500 to return at a later day to replace the glass. Totalling £780+ in damages.
We informed the police on the 3 nights that we wished to press charges and take the culprits to court for compensation.
but the police released 2 culprits the following morning with a £80 fine which went to the council and the 3rd was released the following morning after being given a caution leaving us to foot the bill of repair.
The police now tell us we can take civil action against the culprits.
To do this we need the names, date of births and addresses of the culprits but after a month still refuse to release this info and have advised us to go to the Data Protection department who have also refused to give us the info as they only give this info to a solicitor.
We asked a solicitor to do this for us who charged £75+vat.
Data Protection replied with, Yes we can look into these 3 accounts, please send a chq for £75, there is no guarantee that we will issue the info as it is at Data Protections discretion and the £75 is non refundable. We phoned Data Pro' to pay via debt card and they told us they can only accept payment from the solicitor, so we now have to pay a solicitor again to pay the data pro'.
We've now had a meeting with the chief inspector where we were looking for answers to why the police no longer police the town, after 90mins we still had no answers only excusses that covered the offices a***s.
Today my partner recieved a phone call from the police who had rang to say SORRY and as the culprits had already been charged with public order offence even though these were incorrect charges there was nothing else they could do for us.
While all this was going on we was told that the frames are too badly damages and also need replacing.
We have had to employ an Architect to draft drawings, to submit to the council for planning permission and guess what? they have refused our proposal and extended the late night licence of the bar to 2:30am.
Total cost so far for being victims of criminal damage over the past few months is £2000+ with any compensation looking very unlikely.
Total cost including new windows and frames based on 3 quotes £8000.
Our insurance company are saying our windows will soon be uninsurable which in turn leads to the alarm center no longer monitoring the shop alarm and alerting ourselves and the police of damage and intruders.
With shop front boarded up and no window displays to attract customers in, there is only one way to go and that is down down down.
Thank you for taking the time to read this long and boring thread and an even bigger thank you to everyone who has help in taking our honest living away from us, After all we are guilty of offering and providing our town with a friendly independent service.
With everything else thats going on in this country it will soon be a total waste of good land!