Yet another student has come to depart on a journey to find their car damaged; Ross Cole, a prospective graduate as well as DJ and producer, left his house on Penrose Road to go to work, only to find the rear-view window to be smashed. This is the latest in a string of damage incidents occurring in Falmouth.
Since the turn of 2018, the town has seen a notable rise in reports of property being damaged and/or broken into; from radios, to instruments to simple anti-social behaviour. It was for that reason, after returning from his Easter Holidays, that Cole decided to start parking his car on the drive way rather than on the road. Despite the precautions, it did not seem to be enough.
“I didn’t even realise until I got in my car, closed the door and heard bits of glass fall that it had been smashed,” explained Cole. “My first thought was sort of ‘well how did this happen?’ My car was parked in the drive way and that was the only damage I could see. It doesn’t really make sense why someone would do that.”
“It was pretty bad timing because I was actually on my way to work, so I had to call them first and explain. Then I called my mum who helped with my insurance and basically sorted a replacement the next day,” said Cole. “I didn’t even call the police; it just seemed so out of place I didn’t think there was anything they could do. And all the other students who’ve had their property damaged; what have they been able to do about it?”
When asked whether he considered himself a victim of a hate crime or not, Cole seemed uncertain. “Like I understand why people would jump to that conclusion based on how things have been recently, but I don’t think I’ve been a target or anything,” Cole said, “It could have been a drunk student for all I know; I was just lucky I was able to get a replacement otherwise I wouldn’t have been able to legally use my car and I can’t afford not to be able to get to work.”
While a criminal complaint was not made, in relation to the recent crime spike, Police Inspector Ian Thompson said to Truthfal Journalist Danielle Sheed; “We have been made aware of a spike in reported thefts from and damage to motor vehicles over the past 3 months and are working hard to identify a pattern of behaviour to see if they’re linked. In recent days, we’ve successfully identified some tangible leads that we’re prioritising in order to focus our attention on the offenders. It is very important that we get a true picture of the problem so I urge people to report suspicious activity or offences to us by calling 101.”