Thornlands residents hide inside as teens kick down fence in night-time rampage

A Thornlands care provider has spoken of the sheer terror her residents felt when teens kicked and bashed down a garden fence in a Friday night suburban rampage. WATCH THE VIDEO

Residents of a southside suburb say they are being terrorised in their own homes by a gang of youths wandering the streets near a skate park.

Thornlands residents who live near Redland City Council’s William Stewart Park, were subjected to a 30-minute rampage on Friday night.

They said teens, believed to have been dressed in hoodies, rammed down a metal fence under the cover of darkness, while terrified residents were hiding inside a nearby house calling the police.

Thornlands businesswoman and NDIS provider Sara Horsey, who rents the damaged property for her clients, called police after the raid which started around 8pm.

A part of the damaged fence that remained standing. Picture: Contributed

“The teens were just running at the fence and ramming it for nearly half an hour,” Mrs Horsey said.

“It was frightening as the noise was very loud.

“The new fence was completely smashed in and my husband had to fix it the next day – it had only just been built.

“These teens have been terrorising this suburb for too long and it’s just got to stop.

“Nobody was injured on Friday night but the residents are still victims of crime.

“I have to safeguard my clients who live at the property and we are now installing security cameras and lights.

Thornlands NDIS provider Sara Horsey near a laneway to the Crystal Waters Shopping Centre, where a tobacco shop was torched in May. Pictures; Judith Kerr

“The crime in the area is escalating and getting worse and it all comes from around the skate park. I have seriously considered breaking the lease and moving out of this area.”

Mrs Horsey said she supported the Victims of Crime rally that took place in Brisbane on Wednesday, in an effort to throw a light on suburban crimes which were going unreported.

In an effort to crack the teen crimewave, the state government also launched “flying squads” across the southeast on Wednesday.

The new rapid response police taskforce was established to target serious repeat juvenile offenders and provide immediate support to local communities.

Prior to formally being established, State Flying Squad teams have been deployed to Logan, Ipswich, Townsville, Cairns, Bowen, Dalby, Emerald, Laidley and Wide Bay.

Since May, the teams focusing on youth crime have charged 162 young people with more than 448 offences ranging from stealing, burglary, unlawful use of motor vehicle, assault and robbery amongst others.

Of those, 105 young people have had proceedings commenced by way of diversionary measures.

Commissioner Katarina Carroll said the new taskforce would supplement local resources and work with key support services focusing on health, education, disability services and First Nations initiatives.

“Our rapid response teams are highly mobile and go into areas where their expert support is needed most,” she said.

“The Youth Flying Squad called Taskforce Guardian is all about supporting local police with detectives and Youth Justice workers to target the high-end offenders in hotspot locations.

“We are already seeing encouraging results and we look forward to rolling out various operations at locations across the state over the coming weeks.”

.

The Thornlands tobacconist where police are investigating a fire.

The latest attack on residents, whose properties border the Crystal Waters Shopping Centre and skate park, followed reports of a homemade bomb being detonated, a shade sail being set on fire and a door on a toilet block being smashed.

Another resident Rob Butt has also been patrolling the Thornlands streets at night to make sure his neighbourhood is not attacked under darkness.

In May, the Crystal Waters tobacco shop, which had opened in April, was torched and has been closed since with police treating the fire as arson.

This month Police Minister Mark Ryan said he was aware of some of the reported crime incidents from Victoria Point and Thornlands but said no permanent police station would be built in the area.

A toilet door was vandalised before teens let off a series of explosions at the William Stewart Skate Park. Pictures: Judith Kerr

Mr Ryan said he would speak to Police Commissioner Katarina Carroll about stepping up patrols at the nearby Victoria Point Shopping Centre, which includes a 24-hour McDonald’s and a tavern.

“A police station at Victoria Point would be a matter for the commissioner, but ultimately, for spots like Victoria Point and the nearby laneway, mobile police patrols are better,” he said.

“I have been told that this part of the world, Redlands and Cleveland, is well supported by police.

“Bricks and mortar have their place but it’s much better for police to be on the beat, visible, and flexible about their deployment.

“It seems that the community does have some concerns and we’ve given the police service a dedicated funding package for high visibility police patrols.”

The Crystal Waters management was contacted for comment.