A frustrated father believes he has caught ‘mindless yobs’ red-handed next to a chain trap that he says could have decapitated someone.
Niall Mitchell was driving from home in Carlisle, Cumbria, on Sunday, when he saw a black metal chain stretching across the road, between a lamppost and a fence.
When the father-of-two took a photo of the chain, he heard rustling in the bushes, and turned to find the suspected culprits, taking a picture of them sniggering together.
The black chain was tied up across the road in Carlisle, secured to a lamppost and a piece of fencing
As the father-of-two took the photos, a group of boys started sniggering behind him, near a bush
The 37-year-old engineer took down the chain and alerted police, who claim the alleged offenders denied any involvement when spoken to.
Mr Mitchell said: ‘They’re just mindless yobs. They could have easily decapitated somebody. It’s so dangerous and somebody could have been killed.
‘They have absolutely no grasp as to what they could have done – somebody could have at the very least been put in hospital.
‘I was just going off to the gym, driving from home as usual. Then I just saw this black metal thing stretched across the road – it looked really strange.
‘It was at the junction near my house. This is a nice area – there are a lot of nice families around here and a lot of young professionals.
‘We just absolutely love living here – it’s such a nice area and then yobs do something like this.
‘Someone saw these photos shared on social media and said they wouldn’t move in or live anywhere near here.
‘I want to get the message across that this is a one off and these lads have nothing to do with this place – these are just mindless yobs.’
Mr Mitchell eventually telephoned the police, but, as he was photographing the chain in evidence, managed to take a shot of a gang of youths hiding in nearby bushes.
Mr Mitchell claims there have been issues around his area with ‘mindless yobs’
The engineer said: ‘I just took a photo of the chain to show to the police.
‘Then I heard rustlings in the bushes so I turned the camera around quickly and managed to take a photo of those lads – they were laughing and giggling.
‘They just had no idea of the implications.
‘We’ve had other incidents around here too. We’ve had lads trying to break into some of the show homes.
‘They were trying to get into one of the homes but the security guard managed to stop them and called the police.
‘There was also an incident where they managed to get into an aviary.
‘The problem is there’s very little the police can do around here. There’s only about 30 or 40 policemen – they’re never going to catch anyone.
‘At the end of the day it was a criminal act. It ran across the road near the end of our driveways.
‘This black metal, ornamental-looking chain could a have done a lot of damage.
‘When I called the police they asked me to take the chain down – so I just coiled it up by the side of the road and by the next day it was gone.’
Carlisle Sergeant Scott Adams said: ‘Police were called at just after 7.30pm on August 20th to reports of a metal chain having been placed across the entrance to Ascot Way, Carlisle.
‘It was reported that the chain had been placed there by five young people.
‘An officer identified the potential suspects who were spoken to, but who denied involvement.
‘A plastic post and a chain link were damaged in the process, causing around £50 of damage.
‘Police are continuing to investigate the incident and ask anyone with information to contact police.’