Couple’s £1,200,000 home destroyed by ‘evil’ children using chainsaws and axes
A £1.2 million home was ransacked by ‘evil’ children as young as 11, who caused more than £200,000 worth of damage using axes and chainsaws.
The owners told a court they feel ‘distraught’ after the Grade-II property in Shanklin, Isle of Eight, was left looking like ‘a war zone’.
Joanna Pittard, husband Matt and their two daughters had planned to make it their family home before it was ‘absolutely trashed’ by the youths.
The group targeted the six bedroom house in a month-long spree of destruction, which included damaging a wrought-iron chandelier, flipping over antique furniture and even destroying the homeowner’s wedding dress.
They left ‘hardly anything untouched’ by wrecking lights, bathroom taps and squirting ketchup, bleach and paint everywhere between May and June last year.
Seven perpetrators, who are now all aged between 13 and 16 and cannot be named for legal reasons, admitted criminal damage to property at Isle of Wight Magistrates’ Court, where they were each fined £1,500.
Prosecutor Ann Smout said: ‘Joanna and Matt Pittard were in that address over Easter in April 2022.
‘They had a week there and left the property clean and tidy and in very, very good order.’
The couple left the property for around a moth, but on June 3, a gardener told them there ‘may be some damage’ to the property.
They returned the next day to ‘banging noises’, as it became clear ‘something was going on’ and youths were leaving the address.
The court heard the youngsters were eventually identified but it had ‘taken some time’ to investigate.
Recounting the extent of the damage, Ms Smout told the court Mrs Pittard had been ‘scared’ by noises she heard when she got to the address.
An ornate stained glass window was ‘fully smashed’, along with 22 other windows, a double glazed conservatory door and numerous other handmade hardwood doors – some of which were over 100 years old.
Inside the house there was ‘significant damage’, which included a grandfather clock being pushed over and ‘completely smashed’ as well as a 5ft-wide wrought-iron chandelier.
The court heard ‘every item of furniture’ had been smashed or damaged in some way and oil and tomato ketchup ‘squirted everywhere’, as well as paint, creosote and bleach.
Paintings hung on the wall had also been smashed and left on the floor, while messages were carved into mahogany window sills and the bannister had been destroyed.
Bathroom taps were pulled off and water was gushing everywhere – meaning Mr Pittard had to turn off the water supply as soon as they arrived to try and limit the damage.
The couple found glass scattered ‘everywhere’, graffiti scrawled on walls and ‘hardly anything untouched’.
Ms Smout told the court the work required was ‘complex’ given the property’s listed status and the need for ‘specialist work’.
To date, they have spent over £35,000 on repairs, but it is still ‘absolutely nowhere near finished’.
The court heard carpets needed replacing, as well as a ‘vast amount of electrical work’ and water damage that was ‘much worse than first thought’.
An estate agent said damage to the property had ‘seriously reduced’ its market value by between £250,000 to £300,000.
The couple had hoped to restore antique pieces of furniture and other old items, but an expert said they were ‘so badly damaged’ many were ‘beyond the point of repair or restoration’.
In her statement, Mrs Pittard said the damage was ‘heartbreaking’ and recounted the ‘horrendous’ experience of filling skips with their own belongings.
‘They maliciously chopped down our palm tree and tried to chop down our cherry tree – it looks like a war zone,’ she said.
‘From being a beautiful, historic building, it is a derelict shell of itself.’
In interviews with police, the youngsters admitted to various degrees of involvement in their ‘impulsive’ damage, with one revealing they had created a ‘slip and slide’ in the bathroom.
In mitigation, the court heard the teenagers had expressed their ‘regret and remorse’ for what happened and had all had ‘improvements’ in their behaviour and attitude since.
The teenagers were handed a 12 month referral order and ordered to pay £1,500 compensation for the ‘very personal impact on the family involved’.
Magistrates chairman Keith Jones said he was ‘lost for words’ at their ‘disgraceful’ behaviour which had an ‘horrendous’ effect on the family.
He said: ‘Your behaviour has been appalling and an absolute disgrace to all of you.
‘This is imposed on your parents, but you owe that figure to your parents.’
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