| Wali Mohammad woke today to find the tyres on four cars parked outside his Kinghorne Road home slashed — an incident police described as “deplorable”.
The vandals had also scratched the words “teddy bears” into the paintwork of the vehicles — believed to be a reference to the case in Sudan.
Gillian Gibbons was jailed recently after allowing her pupils to name a teddy bear Mohammed. She was arrested after another member of staff at Unity High School complained. She was released from jail today after receiving a presidential pardon (see story below).
Today, Mr Mohammad, who was born in Pakistan, said the case in Sudan was nothing to do with him and he couldn’t understand why he was targeted.
“I am absolutely sickened by the attack,” he said. “I have lived in this street for 20 years and I never had a problem until now.
“I have no idea who could have done it or why they would want to. I have been living here all these years and have never had any bother with my neighbours or anything like that.
“But obviously my name is Mohammad so it seems someone has known this and has decided to do this.”
Three of the cars — a Toyota, a Vauxhall Zafira and a Mercedes — belonged to Mr Mohammad and his brother Ali, who lives next door.
The fourth belonged to Mr Mohammad’s father-in-law and was parked outside the family’s store, the Abbey Newsagent on Constitution Street, when it was vandalised.
Mr Mohammad (42) says the cars parked on Kinghorne Road were not damaged when he returned home from work at around 11.30pm last night.
It wasn’t until his wife left the house this morning to take their children to school that the crime came to light.
“I couldn’t believe it when I saw the damage. All four cars had tyres slashed — 12 tyres in all — and ‘teddy bears’ scratched into the paintwork.
“I was totally devastated by it. Why would anyone do it to us? My children were very upset by it. I had to ask a neighbour to take them to school but they just couldn’t understand what was going on. What could I say to them?
“What is happening in Sudan is nothing to do with anyone in the UK. This type of thing shouldn’t happen.”
He believes the damage will cost more than £2000.
Police visited the scene today and have now launched an investigation.
A spokesperson confirmed they were treating the incident as a race crime. He added, “The reported vandalism appears to make reference to affairs in Sudan, with Teddy Bear references scratched into the bodywork of the three cars. Officers were alerted to the incident shortly before 9am today and the investigation, including examination at the scene and door-to-door enquiries, are at an early stage.
“Clearly any incident, motivated by racism, in whatever form it takes, is deplorable and gives cause for concern.
“As such we would appeal to anyone who was in the Kinghorne Road area overnight or who knows anything about this incident to come forward.” |
