Kirkheaton man gets shotguns confiscated after reporting vandals to the police

Jun 19 2009 Huddersfield Daily Examiner

A KIRKHEATON man complained to police about vandals – and ended up in trouble himself.

Pat Baker, 57, had four shotguns confiscated after reporting incidents of damage at his New Road home.

Mr Baker said: “I turned to the police for help.

“Now, I feel like a criminal.

“I don’t have a downer on the police generally, but to be treated like this is unbelievable.”

Mr Baker and his neighbours started experiencing problems with vandals on their street two years ago, but it has escalated over the past 12 months.

The topping stones on his garden wall have been damaged, his greenhouse windows have been smashed and paint has twice been poured on his gate and pavement.

Mr Baker said: “The amount of damage happening here is amazing.

“It seems to happen between 2am and 5am, mainly on weekends.

“I think it’s probably more than one person.”

Mr Baker put up a £1,000 reward for information about the culprits and several people offered names, but refused to make official statements.

Mr Baker said: “I didn’t report the problems to police at first because I didn’t think anything would happen.”

But two weeks ago, he finally decided to report the vandalism.

He received two visits from police community support officers, who took details of the damage.

Mr Baker believes a comment made to them landed him in trouble.

He said: “I said something like, ‘If I get my hands on the little b**gers, I’ll sort them out myself’. I don’t deny saying it. But talk about taking things out of context.”

Police visited Mr Baker’s home on June 10 and confiscated his shotguns, saying he had made a threat of violence.

His four shotguns are all licensed. Two of the guns seized were collector’s items and are not used. The other two are used for clay pigeon shooting.

Mr Baker used to run Valley Gun Club at Kirkheaton and raised thousands of pounds for Kirkwood Hospice with charity shooting matches.

Mr Baker said: “That’s all the guns are used for. I have an archery set, but they didn’t take that. The irony is that I could probably do more damage with that.”