"Security first: Vandals trash model railway exhibition" Topic

Thousands of pounds worth of model railway exhibits have been destroyed in an act of "total wanton destruction"

Market Deeping Model Railway Club lost years of work in the raid at Welland Academy in Stamford on Saturday.

Its chairman Peter Davies, 70, said exhibits were smashed, thrown around and stamped on, including a locomotive unit worth about £8,500.00 GBP

Four youths have been arrested on suspicion of burglary and criminal damage.
A funding page set up to raise £5,000.00 GBP for the club has almost reached £1,000.00 GBP in a matter of hours.

Read more link

So very sad. Protect your work.

Saw this posted on FB absolutely heartbreaking!

Cane them. Make them clean it all up. Court order them to pay for damages at full market value. Then cane them again.

What Dentatus said. And add some more caning too.

sad sight

Great deal of sympathy. All that work…

I would guess they'll be sentenced to a quite sharp talking-to if found guilty.

DBDD

Nah, you can't do that Darrell, since that might hurt their feelings, and scar them for life.

I like the caning idea, if capital punishment is ruled out.

Plus, they need to provide 200% restitution to the owners of the items destroyed and damaged.

Missed this post.

It's a criminal act and needs to be prosecuted as such.

Given the monetary value involved, that increases the seriousness of the offense. If more than one person was involved, that adds conspiracy to the charges.

If local law enforcement or prosecutors are involved with the hobby, I suspect this incident will get special attention. Years ago in the U.S., gamblers and players were prosecuted in a case involving efforts to fix college basketball games. One of the reasons the case got as much attention as it did was because the prosecutor involved was a graduate of the college in question.

We'll see.

The people arrested for doing this have been released on bail. Because they are under 18, they cannot be named and shamed. Because they have no income, any fine or restitution that may result from a court appearance will have to be paid by their parents … assuming that they have an income sufficient to make such payments,

Some of the exhibitors may have had insurance cover, but some will not … and any payment will not compensate them for the time, effort, and emotional investment they will have made.

The individuals who did this will have caused more than just physical damage. For older modellers whose life's work may have been destroyed by these vandals, this could be devastating. The only way these vandals will understand and learn from this would be to have a suitable punishment imposed on them. Their prized possessions should be given to the railway modellers whose work they have destroyed … and then they should be made to watch their possessions destroyed in front of them. That would be true restorative justice.

Their prized possessions should be given to the railway modellers whose work they have destroyed … and then they should be made to watch their possessions destroyed in front of them. That would be true restorative justice.

Two wrongs don't make a right. I'd have the little SOBs fix – to perfection – EVERYTHING! When they see all the time invested in these, they'd think twice before doing anything stupid again.

I would sentence them to transportation to the former colony of Singapore for a proper caning. Glue spray paint cans to their hands in flight, so that they can be committing vandalism upon arrival, and go pretty directly to the caning.

Two wrongs don't make a right. I'd have the little SOBs fix – to perfection – EVERYTHING! When they see all the time invested in these, they'd think twice before doing anything stupid again.

If they cannot appreciate the hours of love and labour, never mind the cash, that went into making these layouts, then I doubt very much whether they have any kind of skill whatsoever in their bodies that they could use to restore any single item back to how it looked before they trashed the place. I can't write what I said when I saw the picture at the top, I would go straight in the Dawghouse.
Bring back the birch, and stop all this stupid business of not being able to name offenders under a certain age.

If they are minors, they have a potentially long life of earning to make restitution.

TheKing30,

You are right; two wrongs do not make a right … but I've had to deal with young people who've done damage to other people's property, and no amount of community service repairing the damage they have done changed their attitude … but take their beloved smart phone away from them, and they scream, shout, throw tantrums, and curse you for daring o take their property.

I think that your suggestion would be a better way to go forward … but I doubt that anything like it will happen.

I think it's my turn to refer to Heinlein's description of "juvenile delinquency" in Starship Troopers. No one sane would train puppies they way Western society raises children, and the society--though not those poor model railroaders--deserves the result.

Very sad for those who have lost the hundreds or thousands of hours of time invested in their projects.

You are right; two wrongs do not make a right … but I've had to deal with young people who've done damage to other people's property, and no amount of community service repairing the damage they have done changed their attitude … but take their beloved smart phone away from them, and they scream, shout, throw tantrums, and curse you for daring o take their property.

You're right. There is something seriously wrong with our society. If that were my son – I'd slap the cr@p out of him until he started crying in front of everyone. THEN I'd make him fix everything to my standards.

As for cell phones – my son knows that since I pay for the cell bill – it's MY phone – he gets to use it. I'm allowed to go through it any time I want. If he doesn't like that – he can get his own cellphone.

Thankfully, my son is really well behaved. I don't have any of those problems with him.

If they cannot appreciate the hours of love and labour, never mind the cash, that went into making these layouts, then I doubt very much whether they have any kind of skill whatsoever in their bodies that they could use to restore any single item back to how it looked before they trashed the place. I can't write what I said when I saw the picture at the top, I would go straight in the Dawghouse.
Bring back the birch, and stop all this stupid business of not being able to name offenders under a certain age.

Bible says – spare the rod, spoil the child. I've seen the generational destruction that can happen if children aren't raised properly.

Very sad – and I don't suppose they'll ever want to run the event again.

Fundraiser link:

link

Some of the exhibitors may have had insurance cover, but some will not

The venue itself doesn't have insurance?

The venue should have insurance or maybe the club itself. But like others have said, how can you replace the time and effort that has gone into these layouts?

Hung, drawn and quartered would be too good for the mindless s.

I'm thinking castration. No chance to breed.

Congratulations, lads. Your applications to join the Royal Marines have all been accepted. We were overjoyed you all opted for 10 year enlistments.

Cane them. Make them clean it all up. Court order them to pay for damages at full market value. Then cane them again.

What are you, some kinda softy? (smile)

I also like KPinder's idea, after microgeorge's sentence is carried out.

Congratulations, lads. Your applications to join the Royal Marines have all been accepted. We were overjoyed you all opted for 10 year enlistments.

To be honest the kids who did this don't deserve the honor of being part of such a prestigious military unit even if they could somehow make it (and I doubt they could)

A court order to pay damages wouldn't work, they're minors with no income after all, and who is to say their parents could pay either? On a plus note, if there is one, the Justgiving page is now past £40.00 GBPk.

The damages are nothing.

It's the damage to the peace of mind of the people whose work was thrashed that cannot be fixed. It's years of quiet achievements, triumphs and the odd "Eh, good enough" wiped out in a few hours.

My suggestion would be to give the name, address, social media profiles etc to the margins of society with info that they did wrong. tell the IRA they would gladly march through Cork in Black and Tan uniforms, tell the Russian mob they ed their sisters and stole all the money and drugs and said your babushka wears army boots. Tell the fundamentalists they are renegade unbelievers, tell the Mexican drug gangs they did wrong. Let them have no peace of mind, let them feel they screwed up and some day hell will come knocking at the door in the form of hard men who visit violence upon others in ways we would not dare imagine.

That or the trebuchet and an inflatable jacket full of nitroglycerine.

Bible says – spare the rod, spoil the child. I've seen the generational destruction that can happen if children aren't raised properly.

I saw a good meme the other day:

"If you raise your children (right) you can spoil your grandchildren.

If you spoil your children, you will raise your grandchildren."

Was this location unlocked and unguarded? This is one reason why schools should not host these exhibits, they do not have the proper security or surveillance equipment, or insurance.

"spare the rod, spoil the child" Of course that's also the way to make monster like these.

Sir Rod Stewart – a famous model railway enthusiast – is donating GBP 10,000 to the club.

link

That's mighty nice of him.

Good to hear of the financial response. But there are things money really can't cover. If my wargaming stuff were trashed tomorrow, I'd never rebuild on this scale even if someone handed me the cash value. I wouldn't live long enough to do it again, and a commercially painted army wouldn't be the same thing. I'm sure that's true of many of the victims.

Sad as this is nothing will happen to the scum who did it.

Because you cannot punish them like they should be punished.

Stop putting a monetary value on things. Destroying something that took decades to build should be punished with decades in jail.

"Stop putting a monetary value on things."

Sounds like socialism

£103.00 GBPk raised so far.
Here are the Daily Mail's report and the local paper's. Good to see the school's reaction to it.
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How about if they stay in jail until the modellers have replaced and rebuilt everything the vandals destroyed?

And maybe cancel their GCSE results so they have to repeat the year.