Youth gangs terrorise Thornlands skate park after arson and violent vandalism

A bayside community says it is being held to ransom by gangs of drug-fuelled youths following cases of arson, underage drinking, property destruction, break-ins and now explosives.

Residents of a bayside suburb, where crime has risen by more than 30 per cent in the past year, say they fear for their lives after a series of arson attacks, including detonation of homemade bombs, and violent vandalism has racked up repair bills of more than $300,000.

Disturbing video footage has emerged of homemade bombs being blasted into the sky and two people viciously belting down a public toilet door with a plank at a Redland skate park just metres from where a tobacco store was set alight and robbed last week.

Now residents and a local councillor are calling for a covert police blitz of the area and want offenders arrested, charged and fined.

A burned out bin in front of the Thornlands skate park which has been fenced off for repairs after graffiti wrecked the surface. Picture: Supplied

Police were investigating three incidents at Redland City Council’s William Stewart Park, in Thornlands, last week, two of which were captured in the graphic footage.

The skate park adjoins the Crystal Waters Shopping Centre, where police are also investigating a case of suspected arson after the CT Tobacconist was robbed and a fire broke out on May 8.

A tobacconist at a Thornlands shopping centre was robbed and the store set alight last week. Picture: Contributed

Queensland Police data shows two cases of arson at the centre in the past six months, before the tobacco shop opened less than two months ago in April.

The toilet vandalism in the park, in which offenders bashed down the door and smashed the toilet and fittings, was the final straw for Redland City councillor Paul Golle who said his constant requests for greater police presence in the area had been ignored.

Last week, he wrote two letters to Police Minister Mark Ryan detailing a series of crimes in and around the skate park and shops in the past week which he said had not been investigated.

Crimes in the park in the past year included setting fire to a new set of council shade sails, ripping up the synthetic cricket pitch with trail bike wheelies, detonating homemade bombs, bins set alight, new council lights smashed three times, graffiti and the toilet door and bowl smashed.

The popular skate park at Thornlands. Picture: Supplied

Mr Golle said he would consider calling for the skate bowl to be knocked down if residents were subjected to further violent acts of vandalism, which had so far cost ratepayers at least $300,000 in repairs.

Although he said nobody had been charged, he said residents believed many of the crimes in the skate park and adjoining shops were linked to youth gangs.

“The repair bill keeps mounting and a rough estimate of replacing the light poles, the electric wiring, the shade sail, the bins, the toilet building and the cricket pitch adds up to about $300,000,” he said.

The cricket pitch was ripped up by trail bike riders doing burnouts. Picture: Judith Kerr

“It’s out of control and the council has done everything it can to ensure people’s safety but if this continues, I will consider removing the bowl, if that’s what residents want.

“Residents have had enough and they’re starting to confront these youths and they are starting to interact filming and then trying to capture as much evidence as possible to give to police so police act upon this.

“The council has installed security, CCTV cameras and lights and spent a lot of money trying to ensure the park and shops are safe but it is now beyond the council and is the job of the police.

Redland councillor Paul Golle has lobbied Queensland Police and police minister Mark Ryan to investigate the Thornlands skate park. Picture: Supplied

“What is it going to take to have youth crime brought into check and for the perpetrators to be held accountable for the damage and terror they are creating in this community?”

Residents whose homes back on to the park were too sacred to have their name published for fear of retribution.

However, one woman said a gang of youths swore at her and started following her when she took out her phone to take footage of them setting fire to bins.

“I did not want them to follow me home so I had to walk in a different direction,” she said.

“This cannot continue because we are too scared to come out of our houses.”

A public toilet was the latest to be targeted in Thornlands. Picture: Supplied

Principal of the nearby Cleveland District State High School Leonard McKeown said he was unaware of any of his students being involved in the incidents but said his school had a local police officer who worked with staff and pupils.

Police said the majority of young people at William Stewart Skate Park were not destructive.

They said on May 13 they were called after reports of young people drinking and a second report regarding a motorbike being ridden in the park.

There have been 10 reported offences at the Crystal waters Shopping complex in the past year and six in the William Stewart Park. Picture: QPS Media.

In both instances, police attended and conducted patrols, but nobody was apprehended.

“There has not been an increase in reports relating to the skate park,” police said in a statement.

“In recent months, a few incidents have been reported including damage done to property, graffiti or young people causing a disturbance with deodorant cans.

“Police are currently investigating a suspicious fire at a tobacconist on May 8 but initial investigations reveal no correlation between the reports of young people in the park and the report of arson in the shopping centre.

“Cleveland Police conduct regular patrols of both the skate park and shopping centre as part of ongoing proactive strategies to prevent and disrupt anti-social behaviour and offending.”

A police spokesman said police used “borderless policing” along with technology so officers were no longer restricted to one area or a static base or location and were able to proactively patrol and respond to incidents across the state.

Originally published as Youth gangs terrorise Thornlands skate park after arson and violent vandalism