I am very sorry to hear about your plot, as a plotholder I know just how
much creativity and physical and emotional energy goes into it.

If you do not report the crime, it sends a very clear message to the
perpetrator that it is okay for them to carry on such behaviour. People of
limited intelligence are expected to live by the same rules as the rest of
us. Please report it.

--
Mark Hamer
www.another-way.co.uk

I don't want to arrive at my grave in an attractive and well preserved body,
hopefully I will be skidding in
sideways, Gin and Tonic in one hand -- Cigar in the other screaming YAHAAAY!
"Bob Hobden" wrote in message
...

"Kate Morgan" wrote ...
My daughter has had her allotment ruined, she grows flowers shrubs etc.
at home and keeps the allotment for vegetables and soft fruit, She is
very keen gardener and competes at local flower shows etc. Her allotment
is or was organic and she grows herbs amongst the veg, I am telling you
this cos it says the sort of gardener she is. However a few days ago
someone put weedkiller all over the plants and yesterday after being away
for a camping weekend she found that someone had pulled up all the plants
and burnt the lot. She knows who it was but cannot contact them, the fact
that the person involved is of limited intelligence makes it almost
impossible to take the matter further. I feel so sad for her :-(


That sounds even worse than anything I've experienced or heard about.
Unfortunately the Police are chocolate teapots for anything like this
these days IME, so little chance of them doing anything. In fact they may
get stroppy if you try to report it, does their figures no good at all,
and that's if you can find someone to report it to.

Of course the person is of limited intelligence, they always must be, but
she must do something or it will continue such is the nature of these
people. She will have to make up her own mind what she wants to do but it
must be something this person remembers, perhaps the Police round her way
are still doing their jobs properly and protecting the honest citizen.

Alternatively speak to the Council and explain what's happened, they may
help get the Police on board or they may even find her another plot on
another site so she can start again. Of course if this vandal is a Council
Tennant they may do more, a local councillor on board is always a good
idea too.
--
Regards
Bob Hobden
just W. of London

On 2009-07-01 09:36:26 +0100, "Angela" said:


"Clive" wrote in message
...
| It's criminal damage - she should contact the police - even if nothing
can
| be done a visit from the police would go a long way in making sure
she/he
| doesn't do it again!
|
|
| The Police will only visit the accused person IF there is evidence to
prove
| beyond reasonable doubt that he/she comitted the offence. If there were
| any witnesses or CCTV or even an admission from the person this will be
| a start. You think you know who it is, but proving it is another thing.
|
|

That is not my experience with the police. I had someone causing me
problems and even though I had no hard evidence they went to interview her
and find out what she knew about the stuff that had been happening - it all
stopped from that point.

This is what I was thinking of. If the police would interview several
of those 'possibly having information', including the obvious culprit,
the latter will be on a warning that their behaviour is known about.
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.com
Shrubs & perennials. Tender & exotics.
South Devon

On 2009-07-01 10:02:52 +0100, "shazzbat"
said:


"Ophelia" wrote in message
...
Sacha wrote:
BTW, I understand that CCTV cameras aren't that expensive nowadays and
there might be a handy tree nearby to which to fix it?

We have cameras around our house but you have to have some connection to a
recorder.

I suppose it depends on how remote the allotment is. Does the OP have a
secure shed with eleectricity? (although she could use a battery with an
inverter) She could have a wireless connection back to the recorder. I
also forsee problems with it visible in a tree. If the perpetrator sees
it,
would he not destroy it. What a horrible business

If these problems can be overcome, cameras are a good idea.

I do hope the OP finds a resolution. It makes me feel sick to hear of
such
wanton destruction


Having suffered the total destruction of 90% of our allotment last year by a
water Co, I feel for the OP.

I agree with those who have said she should report the crime, she may stop
the same thing happening again, or happening to someone else. And she should
get a crime No from the police, only then is it part of the crime figures.

Steve

How's your allotment doing this year, Steve? Is it back in one piece
and functioning again?
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.com
Shrubs & perennials. Tender & exotics.
South Devon

On Tue, 30 Jun 2009 22:31:04 +0100, Sacha wrote:



I wonder if it's possible for her to tell the police about this but on
the quiet, if that makes sense. IOW, not with a view to them directly
involving themselves but with a view to keeping an eye open for further

It should be. You can report incidents and say you don't want a visit
just the log number.

But imo regardless of what community it is in, it should be reported.

trouble so that word filters back to the vandal that he's being
watched. This would depend a great deal on the area in which she lives
and the demands on police time, I'm sure. Unhappily, Sgt. Dixon is no
longer with us! I'm assuming the apparent culprit isn't another
allotmenteer but if he is, his life won't be worth living among the
rest of them! As others have said, some swiftly reacting plant, e.g.
tomato would be a good soil test. I am just horrified at that level of
spite and cowardice being directed at anyone. It speaks volumes for
his character, though that's not much consolation to his victim. ;-(
I do hope she can find a 'someone' with a bit of moral or authoritarian
clout who can intervene and get a strong message across to the
perpetrator.
BTW, I understand that CCTV cameras aren't that expensive nowadays and
there might be a handy tree nearby to which to fix it?
--
http://www.freedeliveryuk.co.uk
http://www.holidayunder100.co.uk

"Clive" wrote in message
...

"Angela" wrote in message
om...

"Kate Morgan" wrote in message
o.uk...
| My daughter has had her allotment ruined, she grows flowers shrubs etc.
at
| home and keeps the allotment for vegetables and soft fruit, She is very
keen
| gardener and competes at local flower shows etc. Her allotment is or
was
| organic and she grows herbs amongst the veg, I am telling you this cos
it
| says the sort of gardener she is. However a few days ago someone put
| weedkiller all over the plants and yesterday after being away for a
camping
| weekend she found that someone had pulled up all the plants and burnt
the
| lot. She knows who it was but cannot contact them, the fact that the
person
| involved is of limited intelligence makes it almost impossible to take
the
| matter further. I feel so sad for her :-(
|
| kate
|

It's criminal damage - she should contact the police - even if nothing
can
be done a visit from the police would go a long way in making sure she/he
doesn't do it again!


The Police will only visit the accused person IF there is evidence to
prove
beyond reasonable doubt that he/she comitted the offence. If there were
any witnesses or CCTV or even an admission from the person this will be
a start. You think you know who it is, but proving it is another thing.


Sadly that is my experience with police. I still think the matter should be
reported to the police though. It may be that they are already aware of the
person and this will help them form part of a 'bigger picture' and be the
incident that causes them to take action. It may be that the police decide
to 'have a word' in the ear of the person and the matter is dealt with that
way - I have known this to happen on occasion. It may be that the person
needs to be taken into care if this is the actions they take when in the
community - so again, this is another reason it should be formally reported.
'Limited intelligence' is not an excuse or reason to allow violent action to
be tolerated, and violent action is what has happened to the OP's
dauughter's allotment. Not being funny, but if a person 'limited
intelligence' or otherwise is allowed to have violent tendencies go
unchecked, it may result in the level of violence escalating. Plants trashed
one day can lead to animals trashed the next and upwards. It is a known
trend.

Pam Moore wrote:
On Tue, 30 Jun 2009 14:55:19 +0100, "Kate Morgan"
wrote:

My daughter has had her allotment ruined, she grows flowers shrubs etc. at
home and keeps the allotment for vegetables and soft fruit, She is very keen
gardener and competes at local flower shows etc. Her allotment is or was
organic and she grows herbs amongst the veg, I am telling you this cos it
says the sort of gardener she is. However a few days ago someone put
weedkiller all over the plants and yesterday after being away for a camping
weekend she found that someone had pulled up all the plants and burnt the
lot. She knows who it was but cannot contact them, the fact that the person
involved is of limited intelligence makes it almost impossible to take the
matter further. I feel so sad for her :-(

kate

Kate, I feel so sorry for your daughter, being an allotment holder
myself. Is the allotment site not secure? Ours has high fencing
round, and only allotment holders can enter. The cost was partly paid
for by the council, as we had had a lot of theft.
She SHOULD contact the Police. She does not have to say who she
suspects. This person could do it again if he feels he's got away
with it. He needs to know it's not acceptable behaviour.
Alternatively, (I could not envisage doing this myself!) could she
befriend him, and ask him to help her on the allotment? Would that
work? Certainly get the allotment holders and committee involved.

The best thing to plant to test the soil for weedkiller damage, would
be quick germinating things like nasturtiums.

Or mustard and cress which is very sensitive to residual weedkiller and
has physically smaller seeds.

How quickly did the plants succumb to the weedkiller? Did it kill grass
as well as crops? Was new growth fast and distorted, suddenly dried up
or yellowing over a period of a couple of weeks? (those are indicative
of the typical domestic weedkillers)

Good luck to her. Keep us informed.

Hard to know which course of action is best, but I would hope that the
allotment association would rally round under these trying
circumstances. If there were witnesses to this deliberate act of
vandalism or threats made then I would report it to the police.

Regards,
Martin Brown

On 30 June, 14:55, "Kate Morgan" wrote:
My daughter has had her allotment ruined, she grows flowers shrubs etc. at
home and keeps the allotment for vegetables and soft fruit, She is very keen
gardener and competes at local flower shows etc. Her allotment is or was
organic and she grows herbs amongst the veg, I am telling you this cos it
says the sort of gardener she is. However a few days ago someone put
weedkiller all over the plants and yesterday after being away for a camping
weekend she found that someone had pulled up all the plants and burnt the
lot. She knows who it was but cannot contact them, the fact that the person
involved is of limited intelligence makes it almost impossible to take the
matter further. I feel so sad for her :-(

kate

Disheartening!!!Good grief, if she knows who it was, maybe she could
take steps to ensure it never happens again? Limited intelligence or
not, it's a moronic thing to do.

Judith

"Sacha" wrote in message
...
On 2009-06-30 14:55:19 +0100, "Kate Morgan"
said:

My daughter has had her allotment ruined, she grows flowers shrubs etc.
at home and keeps the allotment for vegetables and soft fruit, She is
very keen gardener and competes at local flower shows etc. Her allotment
is or was organic and she grows herbs amongst the veg, I am telling you
this cos it says the sort of gardener she is. However a few days ago
someone put weedkiller all over the plants and yesterday after being away
for a camping weekend she found that someone had pulled up all the plants
and burnt the lot. She knows who it was but cannot contact them, the fact
that the person involved is of limited intelligence makes it almost
impossible to take the matter further. I feel so sad for her :-(

kate

Kate, this is *awful* but she has to find something she can do about it or
it will just be repeated. If this person is as you say, do they have
someone they live with who could be approached?

my first thought as well. If the person is slow, do they have some
supervision or live in a community house, with family etc? If so, have a
word with the person who has authority or supervision. That should put a
stop to similar action befalling someone else. More than that, some
restitution might be possible or at least some sanction. Funny though,
gardening can be therapeutic for patients suffering mental illnesses. A
local group here has mental patients tending community gardens and
apparently the patients get a lot of enjoyment from gardening.

If your daughter is the sort of person who is able to turn the other cheek
(a big ask I realise), and the person with the mental illness is not
malicious but simply misguided, they might even benefit from being involved
in gardening and growing. A big step to take mind, though some people are
capable of showing that much compassion and understanding.

rob

"George.com" wrote in message
...

"Sacha" wrote in message
...
On 2009-06-30 14:55:19 +0100, "Kate Morgan"
said:

My daughter has had her allotment ruined, she grows flowers shrubs etc.
at home and keeps the allotment for vegetables and soft fruit, She is
very keen gardener and competes at local flower shows etc. Her allotment
is or was organic and she grows herbs amongst the veg, I am telling you
this cos it says the sort of gardener she is. However a few days ago
someone put weedkiller all over the plants and yesterday after being
away for a camping weekend she found that someone had pulled up all the
plants and burnt the lot. She knows who it was but cannot contact them,
the fact that the person involved is of limited intelligence makes it
almost impossible to take the matter further. I feel so sad for her :-(

kate

Kate, this is *awful* but she has to find something she can do about it
or it will just be repeated. If this person is as you say, do they have
someone they live with who could be approached?

my first thought as well. If the person is slow, do they have some
supervision or live in a community house, with family etc? If so, have a
word with the person who has authority or supervision. That should put a
stop to similar action befalling someone else. More than that, some
restitution might be possible or at least some sanction. Funny though,
gardening can be therapeutic for patients suffering mental illnesses. A
local group here has mental patients tending community gardens and
apparently the patients get a lot of enjoyment from gardening.

If your daughter is the sort of person who is able to turn the other cheek
(a big ask I realise), and the person with the mental illness is not
malicious but simply misguided, they might even benefit from being
involved in gardening and growing. A big step to take mind, though some
people are capable of showing that much compassion and understanding.

or, if the person is just a ******* and a nasty piece of work, why not
organise a delegation and go and face him down. Get a group of fellow
allotmenteers together, it could be their plot next, and pay a visit to said
vandal. Leave him in no uncertain terms that is he dares to repeat the
action again, or even if such action is repeated without direct evidence he
was involved, his life in your community won't be worth living. One
advantage of a small community is that some peer pressure can stamp out such
malicious activity. Obviously, don't be vigilantes or impeed the persons
rights to live their life peacefully and lawfully. Do however tell them
straight that unacceptable behaviour will not be tolerated. Maybe, if
another allotment gets trashed them something he cherished might go the same
way.

rob

Whether of limited intelligence or not, the fact is the person has done something wrong and needs to be faced with the consequence of his/her action. You say your daughter knows who it is which indicates that the person is used to being at the allotments so the Committee needs to be formally informed. It will then be up to them what action to take.

Someone needs to find out what triggered this action. Possibly some misunderstood action or comment which were completely inoffensive.

I do hope something gets sorted out. Nothing is worse than having a beastly and apparently malicious event hanging over one's head.

In article ,
says...
My daughter has had her allotment ruined, she grows flowers shrubs etc. at
home and keeps the allotment for vegetables and soft fruit, She is very keen
gardener and competes at local flower shows etc. Her allotment is or was
organic and she grows herbs amongst the veg, I am telling you this cos it
says the sort of gardener she is. However a few days ago someone put
weedkiller all over the plants and yesterday after being away for a camping
weekend she found that someone had pulled up all the plants and burnt the
lot. She knows who it was but cannot contact them, the fact that the person
involved is of limited intelligence makes it almost impossible to take the
matter further. I feel so sad for her :-(

kate


Contact the police, even if there is no evidence they will still go a
speak to the culprit and will suggest it doesn't happen again!

--
Charlie Pridham, Gardening in Cornwall
www.roselandhouse.co.uk
Holders of national collections of Clematis viticella cultivars and
Lapageria rosea

Kate Morgan wrote:
My daughter has had her allotment ruined, she grows flowers shrubs etc.
at home and keeps the allotment for vegetables and soft fruit, She is
very keen gardener and competes at local flower shows etc. Her allotment
is or was organic and she grows herbs amongst the veg, I am telling you
this cos it says the sort of gardener she is. However a few days ago
someone put weedkiller all over the plants and yesterday after being
away for a camping weekend she found that someone had pulled up all the
plants and burnt the lot. She knows who it was but cannot contact them,
the fact that the person involved is of limited intelligence makes it
almost impossible to take the matter further. I feel so sad for her :-(

kate

That is so sad, so unfortunate. The allotment that my husband had before
we moved here and were able to establish a veggie patch, was vandalised,
quite seriously. The shed broken into and several tools stolen. Plants
including almost a complete potato crop just pulled up and strewn around
the allotments. He wasn't alone, several plot holders received the same
mindless damage done to their plots. Almost a whole years planning and
planting and care, gone in one evening. The damage was done by young
hooligans with nothing better to do, than climb the allotment fence and
reek havoc on what was the favoured past-time and in some cases an
attempt at self sufficiency by lots of very nice people.
The police said there was nothing they could do, so they did nothing.
The allotment holders even started a vigil but it didn't last, and
thankfully, I think the very presence of the police gave the
perpetrators a warning, and as far as I am aware they never returned.
I feel for your daughter, all that hard work. I do hope that something
can be done about it. I rather liked the suggestion made by another
poster, to involve the person suspected of the damage.

--
http://thingamabobs.co.uk/imagesofcanfordheath7.html

http://smudgespatch.co.uk/newhome3.html

"Sacha" wrote in message
...
On 2009-07-01 10:02:52 +0100, "shazzbat"
said:


"Ophelia" wrote in message
...
Sacha wrote:
BTW, I understand that CCTV cameras aren't that expensive nowadays and
there might be a handy tree nearby to which to fix it?

We have cameras around our house but you have to have some connection to
a
recorder.

I suppose it depends on how remote the allotment is. Does the OP have a
secure shed with eleectricity? (although she could use a battery with an
inverter) She could have a wireless connection back to the recorder. I
also forsee problems with it visible in a tree. If the perpetrator sees
it,
would he not destroy it. What a horrible business

If these problems can be overcome, cameras are a good idea.

I do hope the OP finds a resolution. It makes me feel sick to hear of
such
wanton destruction


Having suffered the total destruction of 90% of our allotment last year
by a
water Co, I feel for the OP.

I agree with those who have said she should report the crime, she may
stop
the same thing happening again, or happening to someone else. And she
should
get a crime No from the police, only then is it part of the crime
figures.

Steve

How's your allotment doing this year, Steve? Is it back in one piece and
functioning again?
--

Hi Sacha, thanks for asking. Well, we've made a start, but it will be some
years before we get back to where before the destruction. The Water Co
brought in 200 tonnes(they say) of ECO super soil (they say). But they left
a massive dip in the middle which naturally collects water when it rains[1]
and makes the centre very soggy. We added 20+ loads of manure from the
stables across the road in our little tipper and covered the area 6" deep in
it, both to soak up some water and to break up the clumpy soil.

We now have several weeds we never had before, and the rabbits have come in
from the golf course at the top end, but I'm working on fencing as well. The
potato rows on the small part of the plot that they didn't trash are visibly
doing better than those in the middle. After the growing season we are going
to do much more towards levelling, but it's going to be a long process. At
least we are growing something this year.

Steve

[1] For a water Co they show a remarkable ignorance of how water behaves.
Whenever I complained to them they always came out with "The soil conditions
we encountered......." Whereas I considered it was fairly predictable that
the soil would be somewhat damp in February, when their boring eqipment
sank. And in March, when their 16t digger sank. And in April, when they sent
away the bog mats[2] which they brought in to support the digger, only for
another digger to sink, which meant they had to send for bog mats again. So
I asked them what were they expecting in spring, a desert? They didn't much
like that, nor did their site engineer much like being called an incompetent
w****r, but by that stage I was past caring what they thought of me.

[2] Big, I mean MASSIVE lengths of timber the digger drives on to spread the
load. But not before the damage has been done. That would be far too
sensible.

shazzbat wrote:
After the growing season we are going to do much more towards
levelling, but it's going to be a long process. At least we are
growing something this year.

I am not sure I could start again after all that Well done to you and
your wife!

On 2009-07-01 14:40:31 +0100, "shazzbat"
said:


"Sacha" wrote in message
snip

Having suffered the total destruction of 90% of our allotment last year
by a
water Co, I feel for the OP.

I agree with those who have said she should report the crime, she may
stop
the same thing happening again, or happening to someone else. And she
should
get a crime No from the police, only then is it part of the crime
figures.

Steve

How's your allotment doing this year, Steve? Is it back in one piece and
functioning again?
--

Hi Sacha, thanks for asking. Well, we've made a start, but it will be some
years before we get back to where before the destruction. The Water Co
brought in 200 tonnes(they say) of ECO super soil (they say). But they left
a massive dip in the middle which naturally collects water when it rains[1]
and makes the centre very soggy. We added 20+ loads of manure from the
stables across the road in our little tipper and covered the area 6" deep in
it, both to soak up some water and to break up the clumpy soil.

We now have several weeds we never had before, and the rabbits have come in
from the golf course at the top end, but I'm working on fencing as well. The
potato rows on the small part of the plot that they didn't trash are visibly
doing better than those in the middle. After the growing season we are going
to do much more towards levelling, but it's going to be a long process. At
least we are growing something this year.

Steve

[1] For a water Co they show a remarkable ignorance of how water behaves.
Whenever I complained to them they always came out with "The soil conditions
we encountered......." Whereas I considered it was fairly predictable that
the soil would be somewhat damp in February, when their boring eqipment
sank. And in March, when their 16t digger sank. And in April, when they sent
away the bog mats[2] which they brought in to support the digger, only for
another digger to sink, which meant they had to send for bog mats again. So
I asked them what were they expecting in spring, a desert? They didn't much
like that, nor did their site engineer much like being called an incompetent
w****r, but by that stage I was past caring what they thought of me.

[2] Big, I mean MASSIVE lengths of timber the digger drives on to spread the
load. But not before the damage has been done. That would be far too
sensible.

It sounds a total nightmare and it's hard to know how to deal with such
ignorance and incompetence. As you say they really should have known
better, given their particular metier! I'm glad you're getting
something out of this year, though and hope next year completes the
repair process. I remember you real distress at what was being done
last year so you'll certainly be in a personal position to sympathise
with Kate's daughter.
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.com
Shrubs & perennials. Tender & exotics.
South Devon