Recent damage at Toast

POLICE had nothing to say when the New Journal asked the Met about repeated vandal attacks on shops in Hampstead.

Despite another incident in which windows were smashed at a store on Hampstead High Street, officers said they could not provide a comment at all because they could not find an incident logged on their computer system.

There was no need for a search through a crime database, however, to see the evidence of cracked window panes at clothes shop, Toast, last month and the broken glass follows a series of other incidents in which shops in the street have been hit in this way at the end of last year.

Jamie Gillan, who runs Gillan & Sons greengrocer, opposite Toast, said: “I was talking to a customer who lives above Bailey and Sage – a couple of doors down from Toast, and she said in the middle of the night it happened at about 3am. She heard a big bang and assumed it was a sound coming from within the communal part of the block. She said it sounded like someone was lugging a great suitcase down the stairs and once the sound stopped she went back to sleep.”

He added: “My concerns are with the other shop-holders if this is something ongoing and shops are being targeted. If it’s mindless thuggery that’s one thing, but if it’s a campaign of vandalism that is another thing. You don’t want nasty surprises that could cause a business to up and leave.”

There are concerns also from residents who want visible policing in the Hampstead area, particularly at night.

Helen Smith, who lives near the High Street, said: “Seeing this kind of vandalism just sends a horrible negative message and it feels as if it is happening again and again. I am concerned that it will drive businesses away when the vast majority of people want to welcome people to Hampstead as it is such a wonderful area.”

She added: “I would like to see better police presence, particularly patrols later at night, as so many of the instances are happening in the dark and you want people to feel safe if they are walking around in the evening. A stronger police presence would also act as a deterrent and hopefully help catch whoever is doing this.”

Liberal Democrat ward councillor Linda Chung said: “I think there ought to be a deeper investigation into this spree of smashing windows. I am very concerned and I want to reassure residents that we are aware this is happening and want to do something about it. There needs to be better investigations and better sharing of intelligence and marshalling.”

She added: “We have to tackle these issues. The Met have always said they will put more police into neighbourhood policing and they ought to do that because I can’t see it on the ground in Hampstead.”

In recent years, police have limited the opportunities for the New Journal to ask local sergeants about neighbourhood prob­lems and offering them a chance to reassure residents by telling them what action is being taken.

Instead, press enquiries go to a central communications team, which searches for incidents on a database before providing comment.