A man accused of smashing windows at numerous businesses in Ramsgate town is due to appear in court today (February 2).
Kent Police officers attended the town after receiving reports that several windows of businesses in York Street, Queen Street, King Street and High Street, had been smashed at around 6am on Saturday 31 January.
Among those targeted were York Street Flowers, Boots, the former gallery in York Street, British Red Cross, Ramsgate Thrift Store, The i station, Custom tattoo studios, Harbour Bakery and the neighbouring newsagents, Sunrise fish and chips and The Red Lion pub.
Following enquiries Dale Percy, 39, of no fixed address was arrested and charged with causing criminal damage to 14 buildings, theft of a ladder brace, and attempted criminal damage to a vehicle.
He was remanded in custody to appear at Margate Magistrates’ Court today.
In the aftermath of the vandalism district and town councillors Becky Wing and Tricia Austin visited affected business owners, with Cllr Wing saying the damage was “gutting and another expense (businesses) could do without.”
She added: “The police have been quick to respond and things have been improving but we really must find solutions to the ongoing sometimes daily antisocial behaviour that makes the town centre a less comfortable place to be and that can ‘boil over’ into more serious crimes.
“I have already been in contact with our local MP, Ramsgate town and Thanet district councils, the police and other town centre councillors to see what we can do together to address the ongoing situation.”
East Thanet MP Polly Billington says she has written to the police asking for reassurance that they can tackle this, but added: “I know this isn’t a matter for the police alone. That is why I am calling on all the agencies who have any responsibility or power to tackle this to get together to agree a Ramsgate-wide plan that deals not just with the consequences but also the causes of this destructive behaviour.
“Tackling crime and antisocial behaviour is one of my biggest priorities in Thanet, and I welcome the introduction of new named officers, the recruitment of additional police locally, and extra funding that has been provided by the government.”
ramsgate – the gift that just keeps giving ? its more like the wild west , i also notice a very serious attack on woman in ramsgate recently
If Ramsgate is the wild west, which it is not, that definitely makes margate and Cliftonville the middle east.
And birchington the south of France.
It really isn’t as bad as people make out. The figures show Ramsgate has around 135–140 crimes per 1,000 people a year, which is higher than the national average but entirely typical for a busy coastal town with a town centre and nightlife. Most of that is anti-social behaviour, shoplifting and lower-level violence, not serious or organised crime. Plenty of places people think of as “nice” or unremarkable have similar or higher rates once footfall is taken into account. Ramsgate has issues, like a lot of seaside towns under pressure, but it’s a long way from being some kind of outlier.
So when does this POS start paying for all the windows he smashed, give him the bill start paying now.he must have money for drink or drugs, as no one in his right mind would do that. Make him responsible for his actions putthim in prison isn’t going to help that just costs us more.
Don’t expect he’ll ever pay a penny. No fixed abode , a resident of RISE by any chance. His escapade may well be enough to increase insurance premiums for businesses in ramsgate, resulting in even greater losses for those trading in the town.
It is up to the judiciary to grow a pair and dish out an appropriate sentence…. but don’t bank on it.
Judges aren’t allowed to “dish out” whatever sentence they fancy. They apply the law as set by Parliament and the Sentencing Council. Criticizing them for following that framework slightly misses where responsibility actually lies.
Judicial independence exists precisely so sentencing isn’t driven by anger or public mood. If people want harsher penalties for criminal damage, that’s a matter for legislation and sentencing policy, not telling judges to be tougher than the law allows.
Chain gangs, put them to work. Make them wear hi vis jacket with I’m a criminal on it or I’m paying for my crimes.
Congrats Fred, you just invented community service. Already in place for a century and change.
Community service , might exist but not a lot of hard graft going on, take a look at the walk along the path from the indoor bowls to the Botany , rubbish and weeds to be cleared.
It’s worth being accurate about what community service actually involves. What people still call “community service” is now Community Payback, and it legally requires offenders to complete 40–300 hours of unpaid work under supervision. That work explicitly includes things like litter picking, clearing vegetation, removing graffiti and basic environmental maintenance. So there is hard graft involved, by design.
If a particular path hasn’t been cleared, that’s not evidence that offenders aren’t working. It usually comes down to resourcing, supervision capacity, risk assessments, or where probation teams are directed to deploy crews. They can’t just be sent anywhere someone points at on a random comments thread. Perhaps do your civic duty by reporting excess street litter to the Council?
In other words, the issue isn’t that unpaid work doesn’t exist or isn’t physically demanding. It’s that it isn’t a magic on-demand cleanup service for every neglected area, and it’s tightly regulated for safety and legal reasons. Blaming sentencing for local maintenance problems slightly misses how the system actually operates.
Bring back the Rack! Or a good thrashing with a Birch! Can he be transported do you think? Trump would probably welcome him.
Threaten to send him to Dumpton! That’ll make him behave.
Probably tongue-in-cheek, but for anyone who genuinely thinks the birch worked: it was used routinely in Britain into the 20th century, including for juvenile offenders, and was studied extensively. The Cadogan Committee (1938) and later reviews found no evidence it reduced reoffending or crime levels, which is why it was abolished in 1948 and finally ended altogether in 1967. It was dropped because it didn’t deter crime, not because policymakers went soft.
Turns out he is from no fixed abode, bet he originated from margate or Cliftonville, very unsavory
Excrement