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 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!

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? Should the police
be informed of what is, after all, criminal damage and asked to have a
word with ALL allotment holders so as not to point the finger at just
one if proof is lacking? She may know who it is but provinig it is
another thing. Can the allotment committee do anything to help her? I
am so sorry for her.
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.com
Shrubs & perennials. Tender & exotics.
South Devon

"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

Oh Kate, what a tragic waste. She must report this to the police. It may
be criminal damage, or it may be a hate crime. I am not fooled by the
'limited intelligence' tag; they knew what they meant to do .. knew what to
use to poison the crops and knew they could cover their tracks by burning
everything. Even if the police can't act against her suspect, they will
certainly file a report. This is not a useless tactic; it enables the
police to bargain more effectively for more men and resources. In her
place, I would report it to the police at once *and* have a chat with the
local SNT (Safer Neighbourhood Team); they may agree to include that area in
their patrol.

I am so sad for your daughter, and so angry that someone can destroy
another's work. Please try and persuade her to call the police.

Spider

In message , Kate
Morgan writes
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

I am sorry to read that. Your poor daughter. Perhaps a call to the
police will prevent something similar happening again or to someone
else. Don't allotment holders have a sort of board of organisers or
similar?

IIRC the same thing happened to Bob some time ago. He was -
unsurprisingly - very upset at the time.
--
June Hughes

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

I am sorry to read that. Your poor daughter. Perhaps a call to the
police will prevent something similar happening again or to someone
else. Don't allotment holders have a sort of board of organisers or
similar?

IIRC the same thing happened to Bob some time ago. He was -
unsurprisingly - very upset at the time.
--
June Hughes

I want to thank everyone for their kind concern and comments. My daughter
does not want to involve the police as they are a small community but she is
getting in contact with all the other people who have allotments on the same
site to tell them who did what and ask them to watch out for the individual
who is guilty. He is still avoiding her but he cannot hide forever. In the
meantime she is going to restock and start growing again. One problem is
that she does not know what sort of weedkiller was used but until she tries
she will not know, thanks again I will make sure that she reads the group,
she will appreciate all the comments, I will keep you all posted to further
developments

kate

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.

Good luck to her. Keep us informed.

Pam in Bristol

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


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.

Good luck to her. Keep us informed.

Pam in Bristol

Likewise, as an allotment holder, I agree with Pam (and others) the police
must be informed. Site owners (Council or other) must be informed and a site
security assesment requested. As for the weedkiller, I'd scrounge a tomato
plant and bung it in and see how it fairs.
FWIW, please convey my sorrow to your daughter.
--
Pete C
London UK

"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

"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

I am sorry to read that. Your poor daughter. Perhaps a call to the
police will prevent something similar happening again or to someone
else. Don't allotment holders have a sort of board of organisers or
similar?

IIRC the same thing happened to Bob some time ago. He was -
unsurprisingly - very upset at the time.
--
June Hughes

I want to thank everyone for their kind concern and comments. My daughter
does not want to involve the police as they are a small community but she
is getting in contact with all the other people who have allotments on the
same site to tell them who did what and ask them to watch out for the
individual who is guilty. He is still avoiding her but he cannot hide
forever. In the meantime she is going to restock and start growing again.
One problem is that she does not know what sort of weedkiller was used but
until she tries she will not know, thanks again I will make sure that she
reads the group, she will appreciate all the comments, I will keep you all
posted to further developments


We live in N. Wiltshire. Last weekend someone went round the allotments we
belong to and trashed some of them. Some of our onions were pulled out and
thrown at other trashers since the onions were then found on nearby
allotments. The allotment holder next to us had several of his sweetcorn
plants torn out and thrown around. We found a broken plastic chair turfed
into the middle of our allotment. Previously, vandals have broken into
peoples' sheds and destroyed things in there and stolen tools. I'm sure the
trashers were just having "fun", throwing onions and such, but...

My partner phoned the police the next morning and spent about half an hour
discussing this "crime"; and then this morning the police phoned back again
to make "further enquiries", including if there were fingerprints on the
plastic chair (!). I'm sure we all have these so-called neighbourhood
police around, well, they're not useful at 2 in the afternoon, we need them
down our allotments on a Saturday night about midnight to catch the buggers.

Your daughter may live in a small community, but she's doing nobody any
favours by protecting this person from the law because she thinks he's of
"limited intelligence". This is not an excuse to pour weedkiller on someone
else's garden. Tell the police, and let the community deal with it.

someone

On 2009-06-30 17:47:41 +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

I am sorry to read that. Your poor daughter. Perhaps a call to the
police will prevent something similar happening again or to someone
else. Don't allotment holders have a sort of board of organisers or
similar?

IIRC the same thing happened to Bob some time ago. He was -
unsurprisingly - very upset at the time.
--
June Hughes

I want to thank everyone for their kind concern and comments. My
daughter does not want to involve the police as they are a small
community but she is getting in contact with all the other people who
have allotments on the same site to tell them who did what and ask them
to watch out for the individual who is guilty. He is still avoiding her
but he cannot hide forever. In the meantime she is going to restock and
start growing again. One problem is that she does not know what sort of
weedkiller was used but until she tries she will not know, thanks again
I will make sure that she reads the group, she will appreciate all the
comments, I will keep you all posted to further developments

kate

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
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?
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.com
Shrubs & perennials. Tender & exotics.
South Devon

"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.

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

"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.

"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