Cost of sniper still being counted

Nov 19 2008 By Jack Abell

The sniper who wreaked havoc in Chalfont St Peter earlier this year has caused insurance costs in the village to rise.

Fake It hairdressers in Market Place twice had their shop window damaged by the 13-year-old, who was eventually found to have been causing the vandalism with a catapult stored in the back of a van in which he was travelling.

Until he was caught in March this year, the sniper, who is from Iver, had hit 17 businesses in the village, causing approximately £16,500 worth of damage.

He was eventually given a warning by the Metropolitan Police because of some other incidents which took place in Uxbridge.

However, Fake It have now found that the cost of insuring their windows has risen by £1,000 after being smashed twice in such a short space of time.

Helen Hurman, co-owner of the shop, said: "The sniper has ended up costing our business about £10,000, because not only have we had to replace the windows twice and insure them, we have had to install an alarm and put shutters up to protect the glass.

"The insurance company said that if we could tell them the name of the person responsible then it would lessen the cost, but the police will not give it out because he is underage and it would take away his right to anonymity. I think it is absolutely ridiculous."

The culprit was with his father when he was eventually caught by police, but the father claimed he did not realise his son had been shooting his catapult at shop windows as they were driving along.

Mrs Hurman added: "The police would not give me the name of the father either. The amount of money we have ended up paying because of this boy's stupidity is completely outrageous."

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