Vishal Nand has $150k damage caused to his Rockhampton business

A Queensland panel beater who moved here from a third world country says his Australian dream is being crushed by “out of control” youth crime which could force him to close both his auto businesses. VIDEO.

A Rockhampton businessman says if he is targeted by crime again he will have to close his doors, after suffering more than $150,000 worth of damage to his business on three separate occasions in the past year.

Vishal Nand, who owns Ram’s G-Elec Automotive on Campbell St and a mechanical business at Aquatic Place, said as a result of his business being targeted he was losing business and the trust of customers.

“Imagine coming from a third world country to here to have a better life,” Vishal, who has been in Australia since 2008, said.

“I have claimed insurance two times and that’s been denied now because they said they’re not covering anything, because of the violence going on.

“The youth crime is out of control, the police do the work and they go to court and are just released.”

Vishal Nand, who owns Ram’s G-Elec Automotive on Campbell St and a mechanical business at Aquatic Place, has sustained more than $150,000 worth of damage to his business at the hands of youths.

Mr Nand said the cars were damaged at his Aquatic Place business and he had since moved them to his Campbell St site.

CCTV footage from the business shows people going around to the cars in his care and smashing windscreens and windows.

He said having to call customers and tell them their vehicles had been damaged was “frustrating”.

“Just imagine if someone had a $150,000 vehicle there and it was just smashed and calling them to tell them,” he said.

“Now their insurance is going to go up … he’s innocent, I’m innocent, because of these people who just go and smash up cars for fun.

“The customers are frustrated because I can’t deliver the car in the way they delivered it to me, but at the end of the day they say ‘Vishal, what can you do it just happened, it’s happening to everyone’.”

Mr Nand said he deals with numerous stolen vehicles at his mechanical business every day and said crime wasn’t getting better.

“I feel very sorry for the police officers, they have the job to catch them and bring them to justice and then they’re released,” he said.

Mr Nand said he felt his cries for help to the state government were falling on deaf ears.

“I can’t put a 3m fence in a nice area, it looks like we’re being locked in somewhere,” he said.

“I’m not the only one affected, I talk to people on ground level … if you go to anyone here in Rockhampton, ask a single person they will tell you the same story.

“Nobody comes and talks to us, the government just close their eyes, do they know Central Queensland exists or not?”

Police charged a 12-year-old Glendale boy and a 14-year-old Norman Gardens boy at Parkhurst on January 11.

They were each charged with six counts of wilful damage and three counts of stealing.

They both had their police bail refused and were expected to appear in Rockhampton Magistrates Court on January 12.

Vishal Nand, who owns Ram’s G-Elec Automotive on Campbell St and a mechanical business at Aquatic Place, has sustained more than $150,000 worth of damage to his business at the hands of youths.

Capricornia MP Michelle Landry said businesses and residents constantly having to deal with youth crime was “not good enough”.

“We’re at a panel beaters shop where they’re trying to repair these things, probably stolen vehicles to start with, and they break in and smash people’s cars up,” she said.

“Good, hardworking business owners who are employing dozens of people are struggling with having to make more repairs to these vehicles, the insurance and keeping their employees in a job.”

LNP candidate for Rockhampton Donna Kirkland said youth crime was one of the LNP’s top priorities.

“I don’t think these criminals that are committing these crimes realise the consequences of what they are creating, they’re creating an impost on to business to the degree where they may have to close their doors,” she said.

“We’re here to ask the Labor Government again to come on and do something about this for our community’s safety, for our businesses to continue to be productive within our community.”

Rockhampton MP Barry O’Rourke “assured” the community the local police had an excellent clean up rate and were picking up the people committing crimes.

“If you actually look at the statistics and the figures crime has reduced, but one crime is one too many. But when you compare where we were 12 months ago to where we are now, there has been a reduction,” Mr O’Rourke said.

“What we are doing is working, but we’re dealing with people that sometimes don’t have those role models in their lives, they’re high-risk young offenders and we’re also seeing it’s a small cohort of young people that cause the bulk of the crime, we are trying to address that but you have to do it from a holistic point of view.”

Throughout February the Queensland Parliament’s Youth Justice Reform Select Committee will be holding hearings in a regional tour of Townsville, Cairns, Mount Isa, Toowoomba, Brisbane and Southport.

Central Queensland was originally not on the list but the committee hopes to hold a hearing in the region before the end of the month.

Originally published as Vishal Nand has $150k damage caused to his Rockhampton business